A silly little unexpected phantasy
by midnite127
Summary: Transported from high school into the world of Ragol, a seemingly brief trip out of science class leads Vanessa to world she'd rather fantasize about, from impossible creatures and curious stalkers to adventures in the night...
1. Skipping Science

**An explanation of sorts or author's note. Whatever. Story was actually an English assignment (based on what would you do if you could transport to a different world) I evolved during countless French periods the longest and LONGEST of times ago. Found it in one of my notebooks and decided to put here, just for the heck of it. Read, Review, Flame, Enjoy, eat drink or be happy n.n**

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It was a hot humid day in CLAII. The small high school located on the second floor of Doris Campus in NYC was poorly funded, AC only in every other room. The few who lacked the accessory were left to bake. And the monotony of the classes helped little. Living Environment was so boring Vanessa started to nod off in her seat. Dressed accordingly, a rule follower at heart, she wore a small blue skirt with matching black stockings, her white shirt short sleeved yet stifling. Black dress shoes sweeping over the small blue and green tiled classroom, she knew the humidity and the lack of AC would make her drowsy as hell. Nonetheless, she managed to focus back on her teacher's lecture.

"After the class, we're having a small quiz. Then next Monday we're having a group test on blah, blah, blah…."

Of course he hadn't said, 'blah, blah, blah,' but as soon as she heard 'test' and 'quiz' she lost interest. It was about time she attempted to "travel" somewhere. So as to be somewhat original she had transformed the word from the crappy book she had to read in English class to 'travel' instead of tesser. _It's not like it's a real friggin word regardless._ Something had happened to her; something…special. It was a free trip around the world, around the universe, wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. _Maybe Hawaii_ she thought with a smile. Returning to reality, she noticed the whole class staring at her as well as the teacher. He must've asked a question.

Flicking back a wave of relaxed ebony hair, she narrowed her eyes in annoyance to the teacher, pulling off her best bitch impersonation, "Yes, can I help you?" she muttered with an attitude.

"Pardon me?" he questioned slightly startled, adjusting his glasses over bright blue eyes.

"Nothing," She put her head down and rubbed her stomach, "I'm…I'm not feeling well. May I be excused?" _Not even my mother would buy that_, she thought to herself miserably.

"Take the pass," sighed the teacher.

Vanessa mumbled something along the lines of "sucker" before quickly grabbing the wooden pass and running out the Living Environment classroom and into the girl's bathroom. It was a spur of the moment decision but she knew today would be the day she'd attempt a perfect 'travel'. Anything to get away from the tedium that was Living Environment.

From Vanessa's left hand she started to feel a freezing sensation. The sensation inched up to her shoulder, down her spine, and coursed through her veins. She then felt as if she had been plunged into darkness. Into a cold rush of water. She realized she had been holding her breath throughout the strange ordeal and took a deep breath despite her better judgment. Surprisingly, she breathed in air. Her vision, which had been filled with darkness, started to come back. Vanessa looked around and made note of her surroundings.

She was lying down in ankle tall grass near a clear running brook. The sky was clear, impossibly blue and the 2 suns in the west shined brightly in the sky. _Wait? Two suns?_ Vanessa sat up and looked into the sky. After blinking several times, the two suns remained where they were.

"I don't think I'm in New York anymore…." She muttered to herself. She stood up and dusted off her black school skirt, noticing something peculiar to her side. It was…a penguin. A four feet yellow penguin with a white patch on its belly. Its yellow pointed beak poked at her in which she mistook for curiosity.

"Ow!" she yelped, positive the penguin-esque creature had bruised a light brown leg. The odd colored penguin looked at her curiously for a moment. In this moment, Vanessa submitted to her soft side, starting to pet it. "Wow! Its fur is so soft and it's so cu-" Before Vanessa could finish her statement, two golden shots came from behind her. The penguin let out a squeal and fell down dead.

Lifting her head towards the source, she saw a guy around 6ft. He was clad in all black with white work boots to match. Around the top area of the suit he had white shoulder blades sticking out. In his hand was a pointed blue rifle. Vanessa marched up to the stranger and pushed him in a thoughtless fit.

"What's your problem?!? Why would you kill such an innocent creature?" she shouted at the stranger.

The stranger blinked once, twice, expressing pure confusion, "It's not dead," he said. He grabbed her shoulders and physically spun her around towards the seemingly dead penguin. The penguin lifted up its head, looked in both directions, then started to dash away leaving nothing behind but a trail of dust. The stranger laughed at Vanessa's bewilderment. "That's the interesting thing about Rag Rappies. They'll always go down but they're never really dead."

"That's a penguin," Vanessa pointed out, staring blankly at the retreating creature. "What's a rag whatever?"

"That's a Rag Rappy," corrected the stranger with a smile. "What's a penguin?"

"Forget it…" Vanessa realized they'd probably have different names for things here…wherever HERE was. The stranger turned to walk away but Vanessa pulled at his arm to stop him. "Wait! Where are we? Who are you? And why did you kill that…thing?" she questioned pleadingly.

"Why do you ask?" He furrowed his brows at the oddity of the questions.

"BECAUSE…I don't know."

The stranger put a hand through dark green shoulder length hair and scrunched up his tan nose, "Okay, we are on the planet Ragol. My name is, umm…" He pondered over his name for a second, then finally came up with, "Charlie. I 'killed' the Rag Rappy because it's considered dangerous here."

Vanessa looked skeptical after his pause. "That's really your name? Whatever. Are there more people like you somewhere around here? Are everyone's eyes like yours?"

The first thing Vanessa noticed when she saw 'Charlie' were his eyes. They were the most beautiful green she had ever seen. Sparkling, vivacious, they symbolized emeralds and nature. Everything good and green in the world, not a spark of malevolence visible.

Charlie said, "Yes, that's really my name. Well…there are more people on Pioneer two but not many have eyes like mine."

Vanessa felt her confusion multiply. "What's Pioneer two? Is that another planet?"

"Wow! You really don't know. Guess I'll take you there," he said cheerfully.

"Oh really…and how exactly will we get there?" wondered Vanessa, amused at the idea.

'Charlie' took out a capsule out of a well concealed pocket and tossed it into the grass. Out of the grass, where the capsule once was, stood a golden glowing fixture of air. The golden air pulsated in several different directions as if it were alive. Vanessa knew there was no way in hell she would step inside the thing. She didn't plan on ending up like one of those losers in the movies that 'checked the mysterious noise coming from the hall, basement, etc.' 'Charlie', judging by the look of apprehension on her face, could tell. Charlie sighed. "It's not gonna hurt you."

"I'm not stepping in that thing."

"It won't kill you…." he said in a light tone.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "Read my lips: _Hell_…no." she annunciated. She crossed her arms in defiance.

"Then you can go fight those." He smirked and pointed behind Vanessa.

Through the silver security door he was pointing through, Vanessa noticed what appeared to be a hunched over brown bear. But its nose was unusually long…and broad. Its eyes were red and very far apart. And its paws…were nothing but claws; nearly 1ft and very much lethal looking.

Vanessa sighed. She wasn't stupid enough to go up against something like that, unarmed, and expect to live. "Fine. I'll take the glowing thing," she mumbled in defeat.

"Trust me, its safe!" smiled Charlie. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through. They both vanished, exiting the lush forests of Ragol…


	2. An adventure…just skippy…

High above the planet Ragol was an enormous interstellar transport ship. Populating this space station were pointy eared people and humans of various shapes and sizes. The wildest trend seemed to be radical colors, no two people holding the same shade of hair. The main level was frequented by weapon shops, hospitals, armor shops, and everything a city would need. News, commercials, and public messages appeared on flat rectangular screens all over the ship, some even of a holographic nature. This is where Charlie and Vanessa appeared. Charlie, ever the chipper Ranger, gave the bemused Vanessa a tour of the ship, listening in somewhat of a wonder of her story about the planet called Earth. Whether he believed her or not, he never gave away. Hours into wandering, he ended the tour by showing her a window view of the planet so close, but so far away.

"Is that Ragol? Wow!" She briefly made a face, realizing it couldn't have been any other planet. _Duh…_ Chuckling at her stupidity, she turned a thankful gaze to Charlie. "This place is so nice and you've been so nice but I should get going now," said Vanessa gloomily. A break from Living Environment had been heaven but failing one of her teacher's ridiculously hard tests wasn't high on her agenda.

"Going? Going where?" questioned Charlie. Weapons no longer in view, he expressed a boyish curiosity.

"Back to Earth, I guess…" shrugged Vanessa. "Peace Charlie!" Vanessa then tried, she really tried to travel. But try as she might, she couldn't. Urgently, she tried again, a prominent frown covering her features. Head pounding fiercely in her concentration, she felt the freezing sensation bathe over her right hand, but as quickly as it came, it vanished. Knowing she had no more energy left in her, she slowly looked to Charlie. Her eyes widened in horror. "Holy shit, I can't get back to Earth!!!" she shouted. Vanessa slapped her palms over her cheeks, severely struggling to avoid going into shock.

Resting a hand on her shoulder, Charlie asked softly. "What were you trying to do?"

Vanessa bit her bottom lip and said in barely a whisper. "I was trying…to travel…back to Earth. It's my home, just like Ragol is yours…."

Charlie winced at her last sentence. He mulled over everything he heard, everything seen, finally saying, "I believe you were trying to get back to this Earth of yours, though it sounds insane. While you were trying to…'ravel'?"

"Travel," corrected Vanessa.

"Travel, you were glowing and your hair was flying all over the place. It was beyond belief…no newman or human has ever done that…" he exclaimed.

"Huh, nice to know you believe me. That won't get me home though…" Vanessa mumbled in a morose, lost tone. She walked over to a ledge overlooking many odd-shaped metallic blue buildings. She squeezed the railing angrily at her irresponsibility, her lack of seeing the whole process through. "…damn. I'll never see anyone I know…and the worst part is it's my own damn fault…" Vanessa shook her head, a horrible shiver going down her spine. She took a deep breath. "Oh, by the way, just to let you know, my name's Vanessa…." She said misty eyed, Charlie by her side. Charlie mumbled something, eyes in thought. Vanessa looked to him perplexed. "What did you say?"

"There…there might be a way…" he said more clearly, brooding prettily all the while.

"A way for what?"

"For you to get home…"

"How?" questioned Vanessa, the smallest trace of hope returning.

"Ever wondered why this place is called Pioneer 2? Because there was a Pioneer 1. But why would we have a giant interstellar transport ship orbiting Ragol? Well, first of all, Ragol isn't my home planet. My home planet is Coral. Around 2,555 ages ago, our planet started to destroy itself. The leaders of the planet conceived this idea. They made a ship like Pioneer 2 called Pioneer 1 filled with numerous people, along with androids and newmans and flew in search of a new home. Around 700 ages-"

"What's an age? Like years?" interrupted Vanessa.

"Hmm…I guess. For example, I'm 5,844 ages. That's young for my people."

"Five thousand what?!?" Vanessa sputtered. She was surprised her jaw hadn't hit the floor in her shock. "You don't look older than sixteen!"

"Heh, well, maybe we have different units of measuring time. Now as I was saying, around seven hundred ages later, Pioneer 1 contacted Coral. They had found a habitable planet. They sent us coordinates whereas Pioneer 2 was launched into space to the planet Ragol. We sent a message to our people on Ragol to tell them we arrived. Before they could respond, a huge explosion rocked the planet. We lost all contact with the millions of people on Ragol…"

"That's serious…but this isn't really helping me to get home…" murmured Vanessa, crossing her arms in morbid interest at the tale.

Charlie nodded, tilting his head. "I'm getting there. After the explosion on Ragol, rumors started to spread on Pioneer 2. Rumors saying Pioneer 1 was more than a migration plan. They started to say that scientists onboard Pioneer 1 wanted to know everything about Ragol so they could…experiment. They hired hunters to dig deep underneath Ragol. But they dug too greedily and too deep. By doing this, they discovered an evil force of unfathomable power…"

"Okay…and…stop pausing for suspense! What else?!?" whispered Vanessa in wide-eyed interest.

"They were said to have discovered…an evil entity that supposedly destroyed everyone on Pioneer 1. But along with that, they discovered what appeared to be a…cleave. A way to travel across time, galaxies, and through dimensions…then again…this is just a rumor. Maybe deep below there's nothing but darkness and shadow…" he finished with a raised eyebrow.

"But there could be! There could be something more. I'm willing to go down to wherever but…I do not know the way…anywhere…" she said in a quiet tone. She had adopted a Frodo tone for her last words, knowing she wasn't taking things as seriously as she should.

Seemingly excited at the prospect of adventure, Charlie grinned after his gloomy tale. "Is that an invite? 'Cause I'll go with you. I'm always in the mood for an adventure," he smiled. He then got serious. "It won't be that easy though. We'd have to try and get a team together to fight off creatures. Plus, you need to be trained. I should have enough meseta to cover us for awhile."

"Meseta?"

"Form of currency. So, we need to get meseta and hopefully find some willing hunters last minute. Go underground, fight what's there, and get you home."

Vanessa felt a smile slowly start to spread on her face. "It can be done…"


	3. Becoming a hunter

"…but not in this!" scowled Vanessa, brow twitching at her reflection in the gold framed mirror.

Vanessa had agreed to Charlie's plan for her to become a hunter but they all had to wear specialized outfits. Or in Vanessa's case, a skin tight red and black tank top with tight black short shorts to match. Also, around her left leg was some sort of grey wraparound that went to her knee. To go with this ensemble were thigh high black and red boots dominatrix boots.

"You look fine." smiled Charlie reassuringly.

Vanessa blew a bit of raven from her vision. Throwing an evil glare his way, she pouted. "I look…like a **slut**." she muttered.

"Well, that's what female hunters wear…" he said with a shrug, hands behind his head.

It was just then a teenager decided to walk past. She was clad in an all white bodysuit, long sleeves crisp and in order. Pink pony tail swaying as she walked, it wouldn't have been entirely surprising if she blew a bubble, so fitting was she of the airhead description. Vanessa felt her eyebrow twitch in her annoyance. "You wanna explain to me why the hell I can't wear something like that?"

"Because, that outfit wouldn't suit you…" interjected a kindly old voice behind her. Vanessa looked behind her to see an old lady with a neat grey bun smiling. The lady continued talking. "Besides, the only other outfit currently in stock is that one." The lady pointed to what Vanessa had mistaken for a yellow bra and hot shorts to match.

Vanessa made a face, scrunching up her nose at the idea of walking around barely dressed. Knowing she had no choice, she sighed drearily, pointing to her outfit. "Okay then, how much is this?"

"10,000 meseta," Smiled the humble looking lady.

Vanessa widened her almond shaped hazel eyes in shock. "10,000-"

"Here you go," Smiled Charlie. Apparently, money wasn't an issue for him. He handed the old lady what looked like a yellow diamond shaped credit card and bought the outfit for Vanessa, she wearing it out of the store.

"10,000 meseta to look like a slut? I could've worn my bra and ripped my skirt and had the same effect…" muttered Vanessa in heavy distaste at her outfit.

Charlie rolled his eyes with a hint of a grin. "The outfit isn't the only thing that makes you a hunter. You have to get a section I.D. A section I.D. determines the location of where you live, where you're teleported on Ragol and unexplainably enough, what items you find there."

Vanessa quirked a perfect raven brow. "Really? And how do I go about getting one of these?"

"Simple. Follow me." The two continued to walk until they reached what looked like an ATM. "Now all you do is type in your name, then out pops your section ID, emblem, collar and all. But before you do that you can find out what your section ID is beforehand. If you don't like the emblem type, you can modify portions of your name until you receive a suitable class."

"Whatever…" shrugged Vanessa. She input her name, the screen fleetingly flashing. After a ten second grace period, out popped a black neck collar with a light green emblem in the center. "I'm a GREEN-IL." She read.

"Yep," said Charlie, peering over her shoulder. He turned to walk away when he noticed Vanessa still messing with the section ID machine. He frowned in wonder. "What are you-"

Vanessa cut him off, hazel eyes devious. "Charlie, according to this, you're a Redria, right?"

"Yeah…why?" he asked nervously.

"I wanna see your ID."

"My ID?" he instinctively reached for a small circular patch on his chest.

"Let me see…" she said in an innocent tone while taking a step towards him.

"No." he replied. With a smirk, Charlie broke off into a rapid dash. Vanessa started to chase after him but after five minutes realized she couldn't keep up. She also realized they had been running in a circle around the metal platform so she stopped to catch her breath. Suddenly, she saw Charlie turning the corner with his head turned back.

"Sucker," she smirked. Unable to resist, she stuck out her leg, sending Charlie sprawling onto the shiny navy blue floor. Before he had time to recover, she jumped on top off him and pinned his arms to the ground. She looked for his section ID over the patch he had tried to hide on his clothes but to her annoyance, found nothing there. "Caramba! Where is it?!?" she shouted to no one in particular while letting go of his arms.

In this instant, Charlie slipped away from her and in a swift maneuver, pinned her to the ground, "I don't have it on me right now. Why can't you just trust me? I haven't done anything wrong…"

"Yet." Finished Vanessa. Charlie loosened his grasp on her, and helped her up. Vanessa dusted herself off and sighed. "Listen Charlie, I can't just trust you. Heck, I barely even know you. I'm sorry…" she mumbled, feeling a tad bit guilty.

For a split second, Charlie looked hurt. Recovering with a smile, he sighed, "All right, then. I'll see you in the morning."

"What do you mean, 'I'll see you in the morning'? Where are you going?" pondered Vanessa.

"Each person lives in their own section of town which is determined by what your section ID is. I'll walk you to yours…"

Charlie led Vanessa through a series of twists and turns and multicolored chrome like buildings. After a while of walking, they stopped in front of several small light houses. "And here's where you'll be sleeping tonight. It's sorta small, but it's cozy. If you need anything, contact me with this," said Charlie as he handed her what looked like a T-Mobile sidekick 2.

"It's sort of like that cell phone contraption you told me about earlier except it shows my face while you hear my voice. Anyway, I'll pick you up in the morning to start your training. Take care," he said as he walked away.

"Night…" Vanessa said sheepishly as she stepped into her light green metallic home.


	4. Prowling through Pioneer

Upon Charlie's exit, the grim reality of the situation hit Vanessa. She was far away from home, might never return, had to fight and do things a girl her age was hardly accustomed to, and her only companion was a 5,000 year, age, whatever it was she barely knew. She sighed deeply, looking for a consoling thought. "Well, at least my companion's sorta cute…." This attempt to cheer herself up nearly helped but then something happened that made her forget her entire dilemma.

Her stomach growled. Loudly. Scowling, she started to ransack the small green house looking for some kind of food, whether it be flora or powdered in nature. To her dismay, she found nothing. "Caramba! Well, maybe there's a grocery store I can go to. There has to be something…." She muttered. With that idea in mind, she left her house, venturing onto the streets of Pioneer 2.

Out on the metallic blue streets of Pioneer 2 where streetlights shone like gold and buildings glimmered like a grandeur city's night, nobody was out. The streets were cold, hollow, not a soul visible. Vanessa shrugged off the chill from the empty city and started to stroll around Pioneer 2. After walking around for nearly ten minutes, she gave up on her venture, preparing to accept the fact she'd be starved and empty. Rubbing her rumbling tummy, pivoting around in the direction of her home, heavy footsteps headed her way.

Whipping around, she saw what looked to be an unusually tall man clad in gold armor from head-to-toe with a mask over his face. He was running towards her at full speed. When he reached her, he barely acknowledged her, instead hiding down an alleyway to the left of her. Shortly after, two military guys in red and green ran to her.

"Have you seen an android run by?" questioned the guy in red while looking around cautiously.

Wondering how to go about the situation, Vanessa inquired. "A tall gold one? Around six feet in a half?"

"Yes, that's the one!" said the guy in green excitedly.

"He's the one who raped, killed, and ate people?" questioned Vanessa innocently, eyes open wide.

The soldiers gave her a weird look before looking at each other and shrugging. Finally, the soldier in green spoke up once more, this time in a tone of bewilderment. "Uh…no, not to our knowledge…."

Taking in the information, Vanessa nodded, stroking her chin. "Oh, in that case, he ran right past me. Nearly knocked me off my feet, he did! He ran right through the greenil section of town and unto, the…what's that other one…?" she asked, pretending to have forgotten the name of the next section.

"Viridia?" supplied the man in red.

"Exactly!" she smiled.

"Okay, ma'am, thanks for your help." Said the man in green as he and his comrade started to run off down the street.

"NO PROBLEM!" she shouted, duo running at alarming speeds away from her.

Vanessa smirked as she watched them run off, becoming serious once she could no longer see any trace of the soldiers. Confident the golden man hadn't completely taken flight, she cocked a brow, throwing a partial glance to the shadowed alley. "Hey, you can come out now…." She hissed.

After a minute of what Vanessa assumed to be reluctance, out came the golden android that Vanessa had mistaken for a human. He tilted his head, eyes expressionless. "Why did you help me? What do you want?" he said in a suspicious tone, scarily human in nature.

Vanessa turned around fully and stepped up to the android. Angling her head so that they were nearly face to face, she narrowed her eyes unable to hide her agitation and said as clearly as possible. "I…Need…FOOD!"

* * *

"Yes, at last!" exclaimed Vanessa while the golden man handed her a plate of golden soup. "It smells...different. And…what in hell are those black chunks floating in it?" she asked cautiously, poking the weird black meat with her blue spoon.

"It is from an animal called Booma. It supposedly tastes better than it looks," stated the android casually, sitting across Vanessa at the bright yellow square table.

Vanessa tentatively poked at one more piece of Booma, the smell and taste not inviting in the least. She held back a sigh at the wish a friend of hers was there, he being able to make the worst of things taste like heaven. Knowing it wasn't meant to be, she tasted the golden liquid, surprised at its flavor. Half-paying attention as she gulped down the salty stew, she grinned at her hunger being sated. "Thank God I bumped into someone!"

"Huh, what were you doing out around this hour? Are you from Pioneer 1?" mused the android.

Vanessa, always a fast eater, finished up her meal and rubbed her now full tummy in content. "Well, firstly, my name's Vanessa. Now, don't dismiss me for some sort of amnesiac nutcase, but I'm not from around here. I came from a planet dimensions, maybe even galaxies away by the name of Earth. I got here…sort of by accident but now I can't get back. So, I've become a hunter and I'm planning to go to Ragol to try and find a way home. So…" Telling as much of her farfetched tale as she felt necessary, Vanessa leaned forward in curiosity. "What's your name? Why were those guys chasing you? What happened to everyone around here? And why is this diner the only place open?"

The android didn't say anything momentarily whereas Vanessa couldn't help but to wonder what he was thinking. Or processing. Whatever an android did. After several more seconds, the android spoke. "Everyone is inside their homes because it is currently past curfew. Everyone has to be in by 167 beats or they face legal trouble. But occasionally, a hunter comes in late from Ragol so they are allowed a quick meal here before they return to their quarters. The military was chasing me over some…legal matters. Stay here long enough and you will know why. Oh and as for my name…you can call me King,"

"But that's not your name, is it?" commented Vanessa quietly while sipping at something resembling tea.

"No, but stay for awhile and you'll know soon enough…" he said in a cautious tone. "Well, I will be going now. Thank you for your help." With those last words he waved a hand and walked out the bright perky diner.

* * *

Soon after King left, Vanessa left the little diner and got lost wandering around the impossibly large Pioneer 2. Her footsteps led her around a section of houses all coated in metallic white, no pueblo identical to another. Peering around out of wonder, she made a face, catching what looked to be Charlie through a spotless glass window.

He was sitting down with his hands through his hair, looking melancholy and frustrated at the same time. Across his toned chest was a huge diagonal scar that looked as if it were in the process of still healing. He let out what looked like a huge sigh, than threw himself onto his bed, succumbing to the darkness of sleep. She gulped at his expression. "Am I…that much of burden?" Vanessa wondered while goggling through his window. A light tap on her shoulder interrupted any thoughts of guilt. She whipped around and found herself nearly face to face with the soldiers she had sent on a wild goose chase only hours earlier.

"What are you doing out past curfew?" questioned red.

"And why are you spying?" continued green.

"Um…I…uh…I was just looking for some-, HOLY CRAP, IT'S THE GOLD ANRDROID RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" shouted Vanessa in the hopes they'd believe the oldest trick in the book.

Well, there's a sucker born everyday. In this case, two at one time. As soon as they whipped around, Vanessa sprinted impossibly fast in the opposite direction. She didn't have to wait long before she heard the footsteps of the two soldiers behind her. _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_ She thought, cursing the heels that matched with her barely there outfit. Running past an alleyway, a cold metallic arm suddenly pulled her off the road. Before she could react, another hand covered her mouth. The person whipped her around and she found herself nearly face to face with…

"King! Jesus, you nearly scared the bejesus out of me!" she exclaimed half relieved and still recovering from the shock. Massaging her pounding heart, she winced some at his question, speed run having wasted her.

"What were you doing in the whitill section of town? Why are you running?" pondered King.

"Long story short: Got lost and the police are after me…do you know where the greenil section of town is?" asked Vanessa hopefully.

"Head straight to the building where the most lights are, then turn left and you will see a row of light green houses. Head there and you're home free," he directed. Vanessa nodded her head and started to dash to her vibrantly illuminated goal, the footsteps of two causing some worries. "Don't worry! I'll keep them busy…." shouted King to the fleeing Vanessa as he stepped out of the alleyway and out in the open to face the two guards.

Vanessa looked over her shoulder and half smiled before turning her attention to ahead of her. "I owe you one, King…." She gave a silly salute, making her way back to her temporary house.

* * *

After safely getting home, Vanessa started to wonder how she had found herself in the whitill section of town. But most importantly, why was Charlie there if he was supposedly a Redria? _Ah, Pioneer, the place of curfews, exotic foods, and nobody ever revealing their real name…_ She sighed as she took off her thigh high black boots and tossed them beneath a green table in the small house. _Why do I have the strangest feeling that I'm being bullshitted about something…?_ She thought to herself absentmindedly. She threw herself onto the queen sized circular shaped key lime green bed and turned herself towards the framed sheet of glass that looked to be the television.

_And when there's a TV there has to be a-, ah!_ To the side of the satin like bed, she found what appeared to be a thin glass remote. She turned it towards the glass and clicked it on to see what was showing but for every time she flipped a channel, she felt the scowl that had started to form on her face become more pronounced. "What the hell? No cartoons, anime, late night music videos?" She flipped through the channels before finally groaning. She turned off the TV and threw the remote onto the light green carpeted floor.

_Hot damn, it's like a late night twenty four hour CNN here…my mum would love it but this…this here is some bullshit_, she thought to herself sullenly. She threw the satin like sheets over herself and curled up into the bed. After awhile, she felt herself eventually fall into a deep dreamless sleep.


	5. A Rude Awakening

Shortly after Vanessa went to sleep, she heard an extremely loud buzzer go off. _Stupid alarm clock!_ She thought annoyed. She flipped the sheets off her head and found…she was still on Pioneer 2. _So it wasn't a dream after all…_

The buzzing continued through her house, loud as ever while she sat in bed. She looked around squinty eyed and agitated for the source before realizing it was coming from her door. She threw open the door slightly wound up and found Charlie standing in the doorway smiling brightly. "Rise and shine! It's 500 beats. Time to start your training!"

Vanessa narrowed her eyes to Charlie before slowly lifting up her wrist to see the time on her watch that mysteriously still worked after being dragged halfway across the universe. "500…beats? It is…6:00…in the freaking…morning. Boy, you better make it…." She muttered while shaking her head with a small smirk.

Charlie scrunched up his face confused. "Make it?"

Vanessa dropped her smile. "Make it…somewhere else. It is too, _too _early for this," she said as she started to push in the door. Before she could slam the door, Charlie stopped her with one simple question.

"Do you want to get home or not?"

Vanessa stopped closing the door and opened it leisurely to see Charlie looking to her with a raised eyebrow. Vanessa bit her lip. "I do, but-" Vanessa then recalled how dismal and frustrated Charlie had looked the night before. She didn't want to be a burden. She clenched her fist before nodding her head. "I'll get dressed!" she said with fake optimism and a smile. As she turned to change out of her long green satin like gown she couldn't help but to mutter under her breath. "It's gonna be a long day…"

"You have no idea…" smirked Charlie.

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"Now this here is a handgun," said Charlie while holding a black gun with green plasma running through a clear glass pipe built into the side. He then picked up what looked like a green light saber a la star wars. "And this is a saber," he said while handing them both to Vanessa. "Now you should use the handgun because the saber is mostly for melee."

Vanessa yawned tiredly with a hand over her mouth. "Okay, whatever. Where do we get to the fighting?"

"THIS is where we get to the fighting!"

"Here?" said Vanessa in confusion. The room they were standing in was vast in size and completely white, from ceiling to floor. If not for the single small black computer module near the doorway, Vanessa would've sworn they had become lost in some sort of void in the matrix.

"Now to start. Computer: Begin Battle training program." He said clearly.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "Did you just speak to-" Vanessa stopped talking and noticed the change that extended across the room. Across the ground, grass started to sprout up. The white ceiling started to develop a light blue hue. Thick metal security doors and dark green mossy rocks popped from the walls and a little river literally appeared to the side of her. She widened her eyes stunned. "Wow…just wow! Are we back on Ragol?"

"No, but it's pretty close to it. It's a virtual reality projection of Ragol. Now follow me," Charlie walked up a beaten path to a blue laser fence. He walked through the lines whereas Vanessa followed suit. He pointed to the bear-like creature Vanessa had seen the day before. "Now try and shoot it," he advised.

"Whatever you say…" she shrugged. She attempted to shoot the bear like creature but shot away from it. Six feet away to be exact.

"Well, everyone misses their first shot. Try again. You're bound to get it," encouraged Charlie.

Vanessa sighed and tried several times, each shot missing her target. The worst part about it to her was that the creature hadn't even been moving. She looked over to Charlie after missing her twentieth shot and found that he had a strange expression across his face. She lowered the gun worried and walked up to him. "Charlie…? What's the matter?"

Charlie, who had been looking ahead, turned to Vanessa with the same expression before he started to laugh. He laughed so hard his bright green eyes started to tear up. He continued laughing on the verge of tears while leaning against the wall for support.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Just what, may I ask do you find so amusing?"

"You! I've never seen such a bad shot in my life! I aim better in my sleep. Hell, I've seen little kid forces aim better than that," exclaimed Charlie in between his fits of laughter. He laughed so much that Vanessa's patience finally broke. She pointed the handgun at him.

"Shut…up…or I'll shoot you," she said between gritted teeth.

Still laughing, he gently pushed the gun away. "I'd be more worried if you were aiming for something next to me!"

Vanessa rolled her eyes and threw aside the handgun exasperated. "Aw, screw this!!" she shouted. "I've never been the gun type anyway…" She took out the saber she had attached to the side of her hot pants and placed it in her hands. Despite having never used one before, she felt completely comfortable with it and went into her own little fighter stance. _I guess playing swords with my cousins over the years will finally pay off…_ she thought with a small smirk.

"Hmm…intriguing. Now that you're using a saber run up to the animals and attack them. Don't worry about the native animals hurting you. They're virtual." he explained.

"Alright then," Vanessa ran up to the native creature and slashed at it downward. At her second attempt to do this, she missed. The creature then struck her and sent her twirling through the air and with a great thump she landed on her butt. "Virtual my ass…" muttered Vanessa while wincing at her bruised backside.

"Try again!" encouraged Charlie.

For the next several hours, Vanessa fought virtual recreations of Ragol's native creatures. From short yellow penguins to mutated brown bears, she killed them all by the masses until finally she could take no more. "Are we done yet?" questioned Vanessa, arms hanging limp and sore at her sides.

"Yeah, you've killed enough Boomas for now, maybe tomorrow we'll go on Ragol to try the real thing though I'm not too sure if you're ready. Computer: end simulation," said Charlie. At the sound of his voice, the room turned back to its blank white huge waste of space.

"That was pretty tiring…" Vanessa said while stretching her arms upwards as they left the virtual reality room.

"Yeah, but eventually you'll get use to it. Now, to get some eats!" said Charlie.

The duo exited the room, strolling through multiple twists and serpentine turns. Rounding hovering cylinder platforms and neon lights outside of pale blue stores, it was a little past a half an hour until they finally reached what looked like a metallic purple cafeteria. Charlie glanced to Vanessa cheerfully. "I'll go get us something to eat. Can you find us a table?"

"Alrighty then!" saluted Vanessa, blinking as Charlie went about his business. Eyes on the bustling cafeteria, she couldn't help but feel awkward; alien in the new area. She sighed, making her way past pointy-eared guys in platform boots (…_metrosexuals galaxies away…)_ and what seemed to be women clad in full metal outfits.

She found herself at a secluded blue café table. After waiting for a few minutes, Charlie walked through the Mardi Gras crowd with two bowls of stew looking a lot like yesterday's course. Vanessa shook her head with a smirk, not entirely surprised he'd found her so soon considering she was hardly inconspicuous.

Taking a seat, Charlie slid a bowl in Vanessa's direction. "Here ya go. Booma Stew!" He slid a spoon her way.

"Thanks a-, hey….wait a minute. I…is this the same booma like the one I was fighting?" Vanessa paled, in high hopes her suspicions were incorrect.

Pausing in taking a sip, Charlie quirked a brow, carefully watching her expression. "Basically."

Vanessa instantly became appalled; face soon contorting from a brief wave of nausea. Grimacing at the floating black chunks she gulped, a 'what the hell' soon leaving her lips. A shrug followed after, Vanessa picking up her spoon and forcing down the native animal soup. "As long as it tastes good, who cares?"

Charlie chuckled at her small show. "Well, they say hungers the best spice," He rolled his eyes with a boyish smile, continuing his meal.

Despite having a fairly good (albeit tiring) day, something had been nagging at the back of Vanessa's mind for the longest while. It was more than the obvious secrets being kept from her, and the fact that she was eating her quarry; it had to do with his expression. Charlie's face the night before…so sorrowful and fatigued. Pushing away her empty bowl, Vanessa focused on a speck of dust on the table. "Charlie, can you answer a question for me? And…please be honest."

"Sure."

Vanessa fidgeted around in the deep, blue seat, tentatively squeezing the sides of her chair. "Do…do you mind having me around? I know you're always smiling but the warmth of it doesn't always extend to your eyes. Your eyes….their so beautiful….yet so sad…" She finished, hazel gaze on Charlie.

Charlie grew solemn, a vague look to his eyes. He exhaled heavily, focus on Vanessa. "I don't mind having you around. If I did, I probably wouldn't have bothered coming back to train you. It's just…a while back, got into a scrimmage with an android and I'm still recovering. Also…family trouble…" He finished the last sentence with a fierce finality, Vanessa knowing better than to prod into his business. Charlie sighed, staring sheepishly. "Let me take you back to your quarters." He put away the empty bowls, beginning with Vanessa back on her course home.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Thanks for walking me back." said Vanessa quietly. Throughout their walk back to her quaint little pueblo, there had been little to no conversation between the two youths. Charlie had kept his attention forward, emerald eyes sparkling in a vicious brood.

Charlie tersely glanced her way. He finally let out, a little more than halfhearted response. "You welcome…." He started to walk away but before he could, Vanessa grabbed ahold of his arm. Furrowing his brows, he turned his focus to the girl. "Hmm?"

"Wait a minute…" Vanessa released him, standing in the doorway anxiously. She fidgeted in step, not wanting her question to seem awkward or holding any undertones. "Umm…where's the shower in this place?" she asked.

"Shower?" asked Charlie in bemusement.

"You know, the place where you bathe, wash?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh, the wash, right this way…" He entered her little domicile, moving around the small sofa and into her bedroom. Stopping outside an almost invisible door Vanessa had originally mistaken for a closet, he opened the door and poked his head inside. "Lights on," he said, speaking to the shadows of the room. The closet illuminated, revealing a key lime green bathroom.

"Oh Thank God!" Beaming at finding what resembled a toilet and a glass shower stall with thin green curtains, she jumped inside the stall, throwing her clothes over the glass. Naked inside the cool tub, she peeked over the edge of the glass barrier curiously. "Oy…Charlie? How do you turn this on?" Vanessa had looked over the tiles thrice and had yet to see a knob spring forth from the almost bare wall.

"Wash on," ordered Charlie, all the while still brooding.

Behind the showerhead hovering in front of Vanessa the sound of gears could be heard going to work. A blitz of water poured down from the metallic green showerhead, pristine water warm and steaming; in other words, perfect. Vanessa allowed the water to cascade over her, then stuck her head out the glass. Positive the curtain covered her up, she smirked to Charlie. "Aren't you coming in?" she teased.

Charlie instantly snapped out of his gloomy demeanor, eyes widening in shock. "What?!?"

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" chuckled Vanessa, practically beaming. She calmed down after a moment, a winning smile gracing her face. "But it was nice to see your expression change."

The emerald eyed Ranger gave her a quirky look, as if not sure how to react to the girl. The corner of his lips twitched, Charlie shaking his head as he broke off into his first genuine smile, the effect of his cheer lighting up his eyes like stars on a clear night. He scoffed with a grin. "You're a nut!"

"Well, I'm a happy nut!" laughed Vanessa, hair now sopping wet. She eased her soaked raven hair off her cheek and said. "See, your eyes are even more beautiful now that you're really smiling."

"Yeah, and you know what?" Charlie looked thoughtful, face turning facetious. "You almost look pretty with your hair like that." He laughed as in response, Vanessa threw a bar of gritty green soap to his head but naturally…she missed. Watching as she blew him a raspberry, his laughter died down into amusement, he knowing he had to go. "I'll see you tomorrow. We might even go on Ragol, who knows? And…maybe….I can get someone to help us, free of charge," he shouted from the entrance of her home in a good mood.

"Really, that's great! See ya!" Vanessa shouted from the shower. A good hour later, Vanessa finally stepped out the wash/shower and waltzed out naked to her bedroom. Resting neatly on her bed was a towel, along with her Hunter uniform, freshly pressed. "Aww...thanks Charlie," she whispered, sure the jovial Ranger left the area long ago. She put on her hunter clothes and collapsed onto bed, too tired to realize it was only 6:00 pm.


	6. The King and I

Shortly after falling asleep, Vanessa woke up to the darkness of her room. Bright lights shone in through her window, the impossibly luminosity dragging her from her slumber. She sighed, cheek damp from her drying hair. "I wonder what time it is…" She yawned, lifting her wrist to check the time. Finding it to be only 8:00 pm, she frowned. "Hmm…it's early. I wonder if curfew's started." Sitting up, Vanessa lifted her chin, checking outside her window. The young woman spotted a guy donning a long black dress. Accompanying him seemed to be a short pointy eared girl in beautiful gold and beige.

"Apparently not," Vanessa sprung out of bed, shaking away the sleepiness from her form. She made up the little bed as best as she could, throwing the leftover sheets over her pillow. Slipping into her boots, she left the little green house, making sure to input the lock code before walking off. She wandered past light and dark blue house, ambling past purple homes until she reached her destination: the 24-hour diner King had taken her to.

The diner was quite crowded, loaded with tall dark men clad in tight green bodysuits. Girls wearing robes with strange markings stood in casual conversations, tribal paint adorning their faces. Huge androids that brought the anime _Gundam_ to mind stomped loudly about, the smaller versions akin to overly tall metallic humans. Vanessa strolled past the surreal crowd, making herself comfortable at a faded yellow table. Folding her hands, feeling more than a little out of place, she shook away her anxiety and waited. For what, she didn't know.

Sitting down for approximately an hour, the novice hunter watched the diner begin to clear out, her feet skimming nervously over the floor. Finally, she saw it enter the diner. Or to be more precise, Vanessa saw King. The golden android noticed her sitting by her lonesome and strolled over. Vanessa beamed in his direction. "King! You escaped, thank God." She motioned for him to take a seat.

"Hello Vanessa," He sat down adjacent her before inquiring. "Are you following me around Pioneer 2?"

"No," Vanessa's feet scurried faster over the floor, she biting her lower lip. "But I do have a favor to ask of you. I promise it to be the last."

"…for now it is," King's voice turned enigmatic. "Not even the most advanced of machinery can predict what the future may have in store. Though I will admit, I am curious as to what the favor may be…"

Surprised at the android's deep words, Vanessa almost lost her trail of thought. Remembering the question she had in mind, she said. "Firstly, are you a hunter? Do you specialize in swords and sabers and whatnot?"

"Yes. I am a HUcast. Why do you ask?"

"Can…can you take me to Ragol?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

"Now? Why?"

Exhaling out deeply, Vanessa cocked her head. She began her explanation. "Well, the guy who's training me is really nice and all but I'm positive guns are more his forte. Plus, I think considering I'm green in…well, everything, he's not going hard enough on me. I want a good idea of what I'll truly be up against…so I…I dunno, I guess you could call it a preview of sorts," She moved her pleading gaze from a fork on the table to the emotionless King. "Please do me this favor and train me from now to whatever beat time. Please…" she finished her request practically doe eyed. King remained silent, contemplating Vanessa's request. After the passing of an awkward minute, Vanessa grew embarrassed, wondering why she even asked. She didn't bother waiting for a response, sliding from her seat. "Okay, I understand, sorry I asked."

"I'll take you there. To Ragol," specified King, seconds before Vanessa left the proximity. He waited for her to wander back to him, continuing on in the utmost calm. "However, it will not be as simplistic or easy as your virtual training earlier today."

Vanessa arched a brow, bemused. "How'd you know about-"

"Get your saber and meet me back here," interrupted King. The yellow orbs that were his eyes glowed in what could be mistaken for mischievousness. "You are going to be training for a long period of time. Are you positive you wish to go through with this?" he questioned cautiously.

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have asked…" Smirking, Vanessa started on the path back to her house.

* * *

Around thirty minutes later, Vanessa met up with King, saber and handgun attached snugly to her hip. The duo walked through branching corridors, each growing increasingly darker until reaching a secluded, grimy part of Pioneer II. King stopped in front of a steel security gate and lifted it to reveal a huge array of colorful light sabers along with katanas and what resembled a weird pitchfork.

"What a collection…" whistled Vanessa. She examined a katana under the little lighting in the alley. "Where _did_ you get all these? You didn't steal them…did you?" she mused out loud. Though it was against her moral code, Vanessa had a feeling she wouldn't care if the golden android turned out to be a thief. Everything on Pioneer seemed far too bizarre to compare to her reality.

"Not exactly…" evaded King. The android tactfully changed the subject to avoid further questioning. "But I didn't come here to get a weapon. I came here to get…" King scrimmaged though a pile of handguns until he finally found a bracelet with a green emblem and what looked like a bulletproof vest. "This!" he said satisfied. He handed the materials to Vanessa.

Vanessa forced on the vest, chuckling at DBZ coming to mind. "Interesting…this vest is so light. It's like it's not even on me. But what's this bracelet for?" she raised her left forearm, barrier on display.

"It is for you to block attacks from the hostile creatures occupying Ragol. Truly, it depends on the speed of your agility and reflexes," he explained. He proceeded to properly equip her with the mediocre frame and barrier. Securing her bindings, he motioned for her to follow him to the edge of a corner. In the reflection of an unusually large broad sword, he pointed out the two security guards in front of a thick fire door.

Figuring the men were bound to be trouble, Vanessa looked up to King curious. "How we gonna get past them?" She was almost taken aback by King's lack of response. Instead, the android drilled his eyes into Vanessa's. Her hazel eyes narrowed into slits at her slow realization. "You want me to be a diversion, don't you?"

"Correct!" affirmed King. "Be convincing!'" he whispered, pushing her out of their dark-hidey hole.

"Waitaminute!" Vanessa stumbled back into the darkness, eyeing King in scrutiny. "And what will YOU be doing?"

"I will do my part in causing a distraction…do not worry what it may be. It will work long enough so we may transport to Ragol. Now, be creative, Miss Vanessa…" he walked back, slipping into the shadows of the alleyway.

Vanessa slowly began her promenade towards the two security guards. She felt her insides boiling at the fact she had to think fast and a huge wave of anxiety forming over what would happen if she failed. Cocking her head, she made a face. _Here goes nothing…_ Halfway on her path to the guards, she fell noticeably hard onto her knees. Burying her face in her hands, she wept. In a few seconds passing, she heard the rushing of footsteps along with four hands attempting to aid her. She shook them away; bringing to surface any painful memory she could find to continue her charade.

"What's the problem, ma'am?" inquired the man in the blue security uniform.

"I…can't find my brother Charlie!" exclaimed Vanessa, hands still hiding her expression. She risked a peek, spotting King sneaking into a building with a red cross.

"How about we check the hospital and see if they received any males from Ragol? We've been receiving a lot of cases recently regarding injured Hunters…" A man toting a red uniform prepared to turn round to the building with the crimson cross.

"No, NO, Don't!" shouted Vanessa, a little _too_ insistent. She immediately reverted to the role of the helpless waif, clinging onto the hand of the red security guard. "Please, both of you. Don't leave me here alone, not alone, please!" she sobbed louder, struggling not to laugh from her theatrics.

The pair gave her a strange face. The blue guy spoke cautiously. "What? Are you-"

Before he could finish his inquiry, a minor explosion rocked the aluminum-esque ground. A thick wave of smoke followed after, completely clouding the area. Vanessa felt vice metallic fingers wrap around her wrist. The force yanked her off her feet and dragged her through the smoke. A doorway was heard opening, Vanessa feeling a shift in the atmosphere. The hand released her, Vanessa taking a look at her kidnapper. "King…heh, why am I not surprised?" she sighed.

Massaging her somewhat tender wrist, she took the time to analyze her surroundings. They were standing in a miniscule room, half of the floor giving way to glass and a peek into the darkness of the universe. The remaining half seemed composed of the same blue metal as Pioneer 2. In the center of the room stood a wide circle of upward moving cerulean rings.

King noticed Vanessa's eyes glued to the baby blue circular beams of light. "This is a transporter. It will lead us to a set surface area on Ragol," Stated King, walking into the center of lights.

Vanessa looked apprehensively at the transporter. Her nerves began to act up. "I'm not too sure about this," Nonetheless, contrary to her words, she followed King into the circle of rings. "How does this work…?" she wondered out loud, noticing there was not a module or button in sight.

"Like this!" King extended his hand, pushing in the light green emblem on her neck collar.

Immediately, Vanessa felt the ground below her disappear, feet skimming through air. The world rushed past her, Vanessa falling through cold and soulless dark at a breakneck speed. She attempted to breathe, she tried to scream, but she couldn't find the air; no sound could be hear. What felt like eternity but had been merely seconds finally ceased, solid ground felt underfoot. She took several deep breaths, lungs lovingly accepting the fresh round of oxygen. Then, Vanessa felt it; the cool summer breeze sweeping over her scalp. Looking around, she saw the grass and skinny trees gently swaying in the wind. The moon glowed surreally, stars decorating the sky around it. The river sparkled, reflecting the glory of the night sky.

"This place…it's so beautiful…" gasped Vanessa, on her knees in awe.

"And dangerous," added King, helping the young femme onto her feet.

"…Like me." Finished Vanessa, accepting the assistance with a sarcastic smirk.

King moved towards a three foot glass cylinder. Pushing down on it, a door opened to reveal three boomas prowling about the wilderness. King pointed to the three native creatures. "Go ahead and fight those. I will observe you from the doorway," he said casually.

"Alrighty," muttered Vanessa. She dashed into the clearing, a booma automatically coming at her from the left. She whipped out her saber, slashing twice into the creature. On her attempt to deliver the finishing blow, she felt a claw cut into her shoulder. She turned to her right, the booma on her left cutting her other shoulder. Surrounded by the threesome, she came to the realization she ran the risk of being hacked to bits.

From the doorway rang out three ear-piercing shots. The three boomas surrounding Vanessa released their pained death cries, each one collapsing with a heavy thump into the stirring grass. Upon impact with the ground, instantaneously, the creatures melted into the earth, bones and sinew returning to the earth and leaving nothing but a red puddle in the creatures wake.

Vanessa exhaled heavily, her saber hanging limply from her already sore arms. She winced, an eyebrow raised from the damage to her shoulders, three scratches embedded in each shoulder and blood dripping calmly down her skin.

King holstered his gun, approaching Vanessa's position. "Hmm, ostensibly, a saber is not meant for you. You do not _multitask,"_ He tapped her forehead lightly with his last word, tone coming out more thoughtful than reprimanding.

Shrugging, Vanessa screwed up her face. "What can I do about it? And do you have anything for this? Bandages, morphine…?" She inquired partially joking, a small laugh almost arriving. She motioned to her wounds, the pain from the movement making her think otherwise on chuckling.

"Here, swallow this. It is a monomate, just to inform you." said King. He offered his hand, holding out a tiny green tablet.

Pensively, Vanessa took the tiny green pill from King's almost warm hand. Analyzing it under the majestic light of the moon, she briefly considered her options. Seeing no other choice, Vanessa swallowed the emerald drug, its effect instantaneous on her body. Her insides burned, a heat briefly claiming her as the pill worked its magic over her body. The wounds in her arm began to mend and heal on their own at an unsettlingly hasty rate, scars beginning to form before virtually no sign of the boomas assault could be seen. Vanessa's first reaction was to utter _'wtf'_ but not caring to explain what '_fuck'_ meant (because it undeniably held many verbal usages) she settled for something milder. "My God…" Her hazel eyes opened wide, in a state of disbelief. "This is…whoa…trippy!" she smirked in awe.

"Really? It is quite the normality here," said King, his voice holding something akin to surprise. His yellow eyes seemed to reflect the emotion in his voice, the hue soon dying down to somber amber. "But on a business related note, judging by your fighting style I think a sword would be more suitable for you." King dug into a compartment on his being, somehow managing to remove what appeared to be a 6' neon green broadsword.

Feeling reality disappear with each passing minute, Vanessa quirked a beyond skeptical brow. She pointed a finger, staring blankly. "So…yeah…where exactly were you hiding that? And how in hell am I supposed to wield it?"

King chose to answer none of her questions instead giving an order. "Catch." He threw the broadsword in Vanessa's direction.

Instinctively, Vanessa extended her hands to catch the weapon, only thinking of the consequences of her actions when she managed to grip the hilt. However, to her astonishment, she didn't collapse from the weight of the new weapon and was surprised to find it feather light. She swung it around in her right hand, letting the sword slice through the air, powerful dashes of wind escaping from the practice swings. Vanessa paused after a moment. "Odd…now what?" she wondered out loud, her left hand tentatively hovering over the length of the sword.

"Now you follow me." instructed King. He led her around a corner to another steel doorway. Through the doorway were three more boomas prowling carelessly about, one of the creatures letting out the occasional feral roar of hunger and something else indescribable but perturbing all the while. King aimed in the direction of the creatures. "Go for it." He commanded.

Vanessa exhaled heavily, knowing she couldn't back out now, (though the idea was tempting). She ran through the doorway, high heeled boots and all, getting only halfway before screeching to a stop from King's sudden shout.

"Do not go any further. Let them come to you all at once. Swing at them twice and on your third strike, place as much force as possible in the blow." Directed King from the safety of the doorway.

Slightly annoyed at being ordered seconds before she entered into the fray, Vanessa muttered, forcing away her petty agitation. "If you say so…" she muttered. She waited until the boomas were less than three feet away before letting loose her first horizontal swipe from the sword. The weapon passed through all three of them in such a way as headlights swept over trees and other impenetrable objects. Curious if the blows even affected them, Vanessa swung the weapon again, from the left to the right. On the third blow, she mustered all the strength she could gather, slashing diagonally to the trio of native creatures. The boomas cried out in unison, falling uniformly and dying at her feet. Vanessa snapped her fingers, practically beaming. "Huzzah, I did it!" she shouted, excited at her accomplishment.

"Good." commended King. He cocked his head in a side direction, voice dripping in sarcasm. "Now do it again." Ordered King, head tilted towards four more boomas and two waiting rag rappies.

"Greeeeeaaattt…." Slurred out Vanessa, anything but excited over the prospect of more enemies but moving towards the group of creatures nonetheless.

King observed Vanessa in combat and offered her tips whilst she was fighting. Vanessa felt her arms growing tenderer by the hour, muscles sore from constantly moving, a sweat over her forehead from a mixture of partial fear and having to consistently be on her guard. What made it even worse was King refused to let her take a break between combat, stating it was a "_human weakness"_ she'd eventually have to overcome. It was one of the things fueling Vanessa throughout the night; one of her pet peeves dealt with doubt placed on humanity. However, upon hearing her watch go off to indicate it was 3am, Vanessa formed the time-out signal after obliterating her fifteenth rappy for the night. "King…I know what I said earlier but…"

_…you're a friggin slave driver!  
_

"…this has to stop," Vanessa finished exasperated, holding back her side thought desperately. She dug her sword into the ground, leaning on the hilt for support. "I mean, I'd understand if you let me take breaks…or drink water…but six hours straight of this?"

King looked down to her ruthlessly. "I warned you this would not be easy. Besides, it has only been 294 beats-"

"I don't care if its only been 50 beats, I'm human and you're gonna have to get over the fact that we can't over exert ourselves then recharge the next day," Vanessa brashly interrupted, fatigue giving her cheek.

A pause followed after her words. The light in King's eyes flickered, the android soon shrugging casually. "Fine. We are done here." He took a capsule from a compartment in his arm and tossed it into the grass. On impact, a burst of swirling golden air appeared again, mutating the ether around them and humming in the silence of the night. "It is a telepipe." He pointed out, softly taking her hand and pulling her into the mysterious creation.

"Yeah…it takes us back to Pioneer 2 but not as insanely heart attack fast. Correct?" asked Vanessa.

"Bingo."

Without warning, King pushed in the ID on her neck collar. Vanessa felt herself methodically dragged from the ground and then in an instant, sent speeding upwards, rushing through the moon, stars, atmosphere, the world around her. Finally, Vanessa found her feet planted on the ground, the duo back on Pioneer 2. Vanessa scanned her surroundings and found she and King was standing by a curving blue counter. Monitoring the counter was a cheerful bust revealing lady in a blue suit and behind her were huge silver storage boxes.

"This is the bank." Curtly explained King to Vanessa's curious expression. He glanced around and once he felt the area secure, spoke. "Now, let us go." He started to walk, Vanessa at his heels.

Vanessa ran her fingers through her hair, feeling a minor pain with the move. "Damn…that training was OD hard..." groaned Vanessa tiredly, knowing she'd be able to go to bed with ease considering how worn out she'd become.

"I told you it would not be like your virtual training…if it managed to hold a candle to it, I would have been shocked," said King smugly.

"Yeah well…" Vanessa trailed off, remembering an issue she wanted to address. "Wait, about that. How DID you know about my virtual training? Were you stalking me…?" she ventured, amused, curious and scared all at once.

King let her questions linger in the nighttime chill of Pioneer 2. His footsteps echoed out in the completely empty streets of Pioneer 2, the shadows and oblong streetlamps the only observers. The sound of metal bounced off walls and reverberated, echoing in the ghost town setting of Pioneer. Finally, King responded. "There is a saying around here. Keep your friends close, keep your rivals closer."

Uncomfortable from his long silence and even more so from his answer, Vanessa swung her hands behind her head, closing her eyes. She feigned indifference. "I prefer the term "enemies" instead of "rivals" but to each his own. So you consider me your enemy?" Hesitantly, Vanessa walked ahead of King, slowing down her strut in wait of his answer.

"…No…" answered King cautiously.

"No huh? So I take it you were after Charlie then?" questioned Vanessa nonchalantly, hoping to get some information about her enigmatic ebullient comrade. Noticing another long silence from the android, Vanessa opened her eyes, stopping. She twitched from the lack of echoing footsteps and turned to find nobody behind her but her shadow. Her eyes closed once more, fists violently shaking by her sides. "I know King did NOT leave me in the middle of Pioneer 2!" she growled furiously. Taking a breath, Vanessa forced herself to calm down.

Pushing aside her rage and figuring she had nothing to lose except a good night of sleep, Vanessa wandered through houses of orange and yellow, in search of the little green pueblo she was forced to call home. Her footsteps led her to the row of pristine white houses, some force always managing to lead her back to the snow white section.

"Hmm…bored bored bored and I wonder wonder wonder…" Vanessa walked on the balls of her feet to minimize the tapping of her shoes, peeking through window after window. She blushed a few times from the sights she unfortunately happened upon, eventually finding the window of Charlie. In the house, she noted Charlie, to her surprise, still in the realm of the living. He was strolling back and forth, apparently yelling into his communicator.

_Charlie pissed...that's a first in my book. _Watching as Charlie wandered over to a far left corner to argue, Vanessa began to lean towards the right to get a better visual. Unfortunately, she lost her balance, waving her hands in a futile attempt to maintain her equilibrium. Vanessa tumbled to the ground, quickly rebounding from the fall and sprinting away with a blush. _Should have just knocked on his window for heavens sake._ She knocked her temple with her fist, angry at her clumsiness.

Dashing past a familiar alleyway Vanessa spotted two shadows preparing to turn the corner ahead of her. She quickly ducked into the alleyway and sidled along the wall. Taking a risk, Vanessa took a peek and discovered the guards from the night before aka 'Dumb and Dumberer'. _Mental note: these guys will always be on patrol._ Waiting until they strolled past, she bolted out of the alleyway, running aimlessly around Pioneer two before stumbling onto her house.

"Thank the lord…" Vanessa sighed with a tinge of laughter, quietly opening her door. She entered the little domicile and threw herself on the bed. Kicking off her boots, she checked the time sleepily. _Hmm…a quarter to __4:00 am__ which leaves me with about 2 hours of sleep. Lovely…_ she thought to herself sarcastically, drifting off and getting herself some much needed rest.


	7. Too Close for Comfort

Vanessa yawned loudly, her tired hazel eyes immediately greeted by the key lime ceiling of her bedroom. She blinked to clear up her fuzzy vision and arched her back to take out any spare kinks of weariness. With a sigh, she turned onto her side. _Best sleep I've had in awhile…_ She dragged her wrist in front of her face and quirked a brow. _And that's why. 1:30 pm and almost 10 hrs of sleep, can't go wrong…though…hmm…where's Charlie boy? Late?_ Shrugging the amused thought away, Vanessa sprung out of bed, hands on her hips and a buoyant smile on her face. Promptly after the move she muttered, cheesy grin in place. "Lemme stop my shit…."

Dropping the act, Vanessa rolled her eyes, peeling off her hunter uniform. She took a quick shower and rather than use a towel let her body air dry. Though she didn't enjoy the aspect of being alone she did enjoy the freedom that came with it. Vanessa smirked, wiping the fog from the bathroom mirror, a happy yet poignant expression gracing her features. She brushed her teeth then plaited her hair, determined to push away her thoughts regarding the world she no longer occupied.

After grooming herself and getting dressed Vanessa checked the time, whistling lowly to herself. "1:50 pm…well hot damn." She threw herself onto her bed frustrated, growing more than impatient over the circumstances. Exhaling, Vanessa's gaze moved to the carpet. "What if…he's not coming back?" She furrowed her brows at the idea, snapping her fingers in a 'Eureka' moment as she remembered the Sidekick imitation he'd given her. Falling out of bed, Vanessa began her search for the green communicator. "Where'd I put that stu-, ah, there we go!" Vanessa tossed aside her school uniform and picked up her communicator. Not quite sure how to operate it, she pressed random buttons, finally gaining access to what she guessed was the phonebook. Finding Charlie's name, she tapped the call button, something akin to a dial tone starting up. She nodded her head. _Tis a start…_

Approximately a minute into waiting, a young fatigued faced appeared on the screen of Vanessa's communicator. "Charlie!" Vanessa shouted, her voice coming out more ebullient than she intended. She smirked to herself. _Huh, no shit, it works…._

Charlie muffled a yawn into his arm, blinking first in bewilderment then mild surprise. "Vanessa…morning. What's up?"

Tilting her head, Vanessa said. "Where are you? It's past 6 am on my watch so I take it it's past 500 beats on yours?"

His green eyes widened at her speculation, Charlie putting a finger to the phone before moving off screen. He mumbled something that sounded a LOT like damn whereas gibberish followed thereafter. Moving back into the view of the phone, he offered a guilty smile. "I'll be there in a few."

"Take your time." Grinned Vanessa. Waiting until he hung up, she threw the phone onto the bed, throwing herself onto the bed shortly after.

* * *

Around 30 minutes later, a buzzing interrupted Vanessa's brief nap. She got out of bed and opened the door for Charlie. Leaning against the frame of the door, Vanessa arched a brow. "You're early…" she purred sarcastically.

Charlie smiled ruefully from her light teasing. "Yeah…sorry I'm late, normally never the type to be tardy. But here, I brought you something to make up for it." He handed Vanessa what on first sight, appeared to be an overly thick, oval piece of warm dark brown bread.

Vanessa took the breakfast from Charlie, chuckling thanks while holstering her weaponry and anything she may find herself in need of on Ragol. She bit into the meal to be polite, not expecting much in terms of flavor. However, when her teeth sunk fully through the meal, she realized besides the sourdough type bread was the juiciest, most extravagant meat she'd ever tasted. Vanessa widened her eyes, staring to Charlie. "Oh my God…this is delicious….!" She savored the taste and flavor of the mystery meat, locking up her home as she motioned for the obviously humored Charlie to lead her to the transporter. It was only halfway through the meal when a thought ran across Vanessa's mind. "What IS this made of? It hardly tastes like Booma…" she commented out loud.

At this point, Charlie looked prepared to laugh. He hid it behind a smirk, emerald eyes on the glass ceiling of Pioneer 2. He said deceptively innocent. "If I told you what it's made from, you'd probably stop eating it."

"Is it made from humans? Pointy-eared people!" Vanessa mocked gasped to add onto the mood. However, curiosity beginning to ebb at her, she slowed down her eating, annoyed at herself for waiting until she was almost done to question what mammal she'd been digesting. _Of course I'd do that, why even be surprised?_

"Here's a clue," Charlie adopted a high-pitched tone and widened his eyes. "Oh, it's so cute, and its fur is SO soft. Why did you shoot such an innocent creature!" He mocked.

Vanessa dropped the rest of her breakfast in repulsion. Following the look of disgust was skepticism. She pointed a finger in Charlie's direction. "First and foremost, I do not sound like that," Vanessa said, a hint of her NY roots showing in her attitude. She soon sighed. "And you made me waste my breakfast!" Rolling her eyes, she picked up the half eaten Rappy Bread and disposed of it in the garbage. Returning to Charlie, Vanessa rubbed her slightly full tummy. She glanced to her comrade. "….huh…thought someone else was gonna go down to Ragol with us."

Charlie placed his hands behind his head, a smile on his face, a distant look in his eyes. Charlie shrugged. "He refused…and it's not entirely surprising when you consider we can't stand each other."

Growing bewildered, Vanessa turned her full focus onto Charlie. "Then why would you want to work with him?

Moving his entranced gaze from the ceiling to the hazel eyed Vanessa, he looked her in the eyes, his voice unnaturally solemn. "Because…I would trust him with my life and vice versa." The emerald green of his eyes shifted in hue in his sudden seriousness. Charlie forced a smile of comfort and held onto the somewhat startled Vanessa's arm. He motioned out to the azure ringed teleporter, stepping inside of it with Vanessa in tow. "Now this will lead us directly into the forest. All you have to do is push in the emblem in your collar." He explained.

"No," Vanessa upturned her chin in fear and apprehension. She turned on her heel, placing her back to Charlie. "I don't want to take this thing…" A subconscious shudder escaped her, Vanessa already able to feel herself falling through the horrible void and chill of darkness. _Not again..._ She gulped, ignoring the fact she was acting like a baby. "I refuse to take it ag-" Vanessa barely got through finishing her sentence when Charlie's arms slid around her waist, gently pulling her towards him. She sputtered in shock, her cheeks heating up. "What the hell are you-!"

Charlie cut her off. "Relax." He whispered softly into her ear, still holding Vanessa in a delicate embrace. Resting his chin onto her shoulder, he whispered relax once more, his breath coming warm over her throat. Curious why her heartbeat seemed to be quickening, Charlie whispered relax one final time, his right hand working its way up to the collar around her neck. He forced a devilish smile away, fingers playing over her neck before moving towards the center emblem.

Actually relaxing in his arms, Vanessa opened up an eye, the back of her mind beginning to see the bigger picture. By the time she realized what he was up to, it was far too late. Vanessa barely managed to mutter "Oh crap." Before Charlie pushed in her emblem and sent them both plummeting onto Ragol.


	8. The Force

As soon as the duo found their footing on Ragol, Vanessa immediately shook Charlie off of her, wide eyed from the experience. Her heart still quaking in her chest and slight chagrin from being so easily deceived, Vanessa fell to her knees, eyes on the ground. She shuddered subconsciously, hands resting into dew moistened grass, her breath coming abnormally heavy.

Feeling a semblance of guilt, Charlie kneeled down in front of Vanessa, motioning a hand to her cheek. Upon seeing her move away from his touch, his guilt increased tenfold. He carefully rested a hand on her shoulder. "Vanessa…..are you okay?" He asked gently.

Tempted to shake him off, Vanessa ignored the instinctual move. Instead, she allowed her annoyance to take over. Springing off of her knees and to her feet, Vanessa unsheathed the gargantuan glowing green sword borrowed from King the night before, placing the tip of the neon weapon inches from Charlie's face. Fuming, Vanessa bellowed. "Don't you EVER pull a stunt like that AGAIN!" She glanced aside and muttered, color returning to her cheeks. "It makes a girl think, ya know…"

"That's the point." Charlie smirked, his eyes soon gaining a curious hue as the sword in his face fully registered. He held his hand out to the front of the blade and made an inquiry. "Where'd you get that sword from anyway?"

"Huh?" Vanessa said quickly. Her eyes fell to the sword in her hand and Vanessa resisted the temptation to slap herself in the forehead. Swinging the weapon casually behind her back, she whistled deceptively innocent. "What sword…?"

"That sword…" Charlie nodded his head slowly, pointing behind her. "You know, the one in your hand, behind your back?"

"Well…wait, wasn't I using a sword yesterday?" questioned Vanessa, sounding interested and naïve in an attempt to change the subject.

"No, actually, you were using a saber yesterday."

"A Saber…?"

"Yes, a saber is shorter and thinner while a sword tends to be-" Charlie cut himself off, closing his eyes and squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Wait, that's not even the point! How…do you have…a sword?" He asked, growing increasingly flustered.

_So much for that…_ Vanessa closed her eyes, struggling to come up with a believable fabrication. She mulled over all the possible ways she could have acquired the weapon. "Hmm…I…um…" _Damn…!_

"Behind you!" interrupted Charlie.

Vanessa looked over her shoulder, already knowing it was too late by the growl almost in her ear. Pivoting in step, Vanessa turned around, finding herself nearly face to face with a booma. Whilst she had been speaking, the booma had methodically been making its way towards her, its claw already in the air prepared to take her down. Gulping, Vanessa braced herself for the blow that fortunately never came. From behind the native creature, a wave of fire emerged, engulfing the creature in a wave of orange flames. The booma howled in obvious pain, clawing the air as its tanned fur burned to ash, its body burning up on impact. It slowly melted into the forest ground, a deep crimson pool and the scent of singed fur left in the creature's absence.

Behind the remnants of the Booma was what appeared to be the source of the flames; a girl with a smile from cheek to cheek. She donned an off the shoulder purple and blue blouse. Connected to the bottom of the shirt was a micro miniskirt. The skirt opened up in the front and back to reveal a dark pair of denim short shorts. Completing the look was a pair of purple Spice Girl pumps and on her head was a purple bandanna that did little to hide her two navy blue braids. Her ears poked out from the side of the bandanna, more horizontal and pointier than normal. The girl's most striking features had to be her face which held strange purple markings that complimented the sparkling cerulean blue of her catlike eyes extraordinarily well.

Startled by the save from the short female before her, Vanessa stroked her chin with a hesitant grin. "Who are you?"

The girl dropped her smile instantaneously, the woman growing extremely appalled at what she'd heard. She dropped what on first glance could be called a pitchfork, the center throng replaced with a glowing blue blade. Charlie nudged the tip of the weapon indifferently, soon looking to Vanessa. He gestured to the shocked woman. "This is a force. She excels in numerous techniques. This one happens to go by the name of Isale Pellioscar." As soon as the name escaped his lips, Charlie found himself evading a fireball hurled at his feet.

Isale upturned her lip in annoyance, glaring dangerously to Charlie. "I told you time and time again NOT to call me by my full name…" The short girl made a noise of distaste and sauntered up to Vanessa, scrutinizing the startled hazel eyed girl. "You've NEVER heard of me? The only person to have EVER found THIS!" Isale picked up her odd colored trident and displayed it to Vanessa.

Smiling guiltily, Vanessa shrugged. "What is it?" All color left the cheeks of the dramatic force. Isale looked on the verge of collapsing, she in a state of disbelief. Isale dropped her trident again and this time, began to hyperventilate. Vanessa looked over to Charlie bewildered, whispering to the side. "What is that weapon?"

Charlie explained. "That weapon…is a psycho wand. It took Isale approximately 365 ages to find one. It's rumored to be the ultimate force weapon ever created-"

"Not "rumored", IS, it IS the ultimate force weapon!" interrupted Isale furiously. Apparently, she had recovered from her hyperventilating fit. Isale narrowed her eyes, looking up to Vanessa once more. "Who are you, girlie? Aren't you a bit too young to be with him?"

Vanessa widened her eyes from Isale's last question, taken aback by the brazen nature of the girl. She stared blankly. "I'm fifteen." Vanessa pierced her lips together, feeling her voice behind to rise. "And define 'with him'?"

Isale ignored Vanessa's last question, instead, snorting in disbelief. "You fifteen? Impossible! If that's the case, you'd still be donning diapers. You can't be fifteen ages."

"What's an age?" Vanessa wondered out loud. She made a face, folding her arms over her chest. "And you STILL haven't answered my last question…"

"You see, girlie-"

"-Vanessa!" corrected Vanessa.

"Whatever," Isale waved a hand dismissively. "As the sun rises and sets an age passes by. This is a continuous never ending process called an age."

A look of understanding appeared on Vanessa's face. "Ooooh," Vanessa started to chuckle in relief. "And here I was thinking Charlie was 5000 years old. Charlie, how old are you now?

"Charlie, huh?" Isale cocked a brow, blue eyes gaining a mischievous hue.

"Five thousand, eight hundred and forty two ages…" declared Charlie, glaring at Isale with cautiously.

Vanessa didn't notice the glares and sudden tension in the air shared between Isale and Charlie. Vanessa's focus remained on the ground before her, her saber drawing numerals into the dirt as she began to do division. After several minutes of work, Vanessa beamed, jumping upwards in her triumph. She pointed to Charlie. "You ARE sixteen!" She shook her head, rolling her eyes and mentally subtracting a few digits. "Give or take a few days or so…how many ages are you, Isale?"

Isale gave up in the gaze battle with Charlie, upturning her nose from Vanessa's question. "A proper woman never reveals her age." She said, her words dripping in arrogance.

Growing increasingly annoyed with Isale's attitude, Vanessa scrunched up her nose. "…Right…hmm…okay, I'm just gonna call you sixteen as well. So how about you work with-?"

"NO!" abruptly cut in Charlie. He stepped in front of Vanessa, waving his hands. "No, we can't, I can't afford her services. For every teleport we go through, she charges 100,000 meseta." He explained.

Isale shrugged, analyzing her facial makeup in the reflection of her pitchfork. "With THIS as my weapon, I should get even more than that but I am lenient. Times are hard after all…"

"But 100,000?" Vanessa was positive her jaw was going to hit the floor. She'd never heard anything as completely ridiculous in her life. She shook her head incredulous. "Why do you charge that much? You're no prostitute..." Despite herself, Vanessa found herself whispering beneath her breath. "…but you sure do dress like one…."

Isale's left ear twitched, the young force putting a pause on fixing her bandana. Irate, in response, Isale said. "Says the girl in barely there shorts and a bra. Where'd you get that outfit from? The street whore look went out with high heels…"

Looking thoughtful, Vanessa kept her gaze glued to the sky. "Really, I didn't realize that what with your mother beyond keen on selling me this so she could wear her barely there hey hoe clothes." Quipped back Vanessa with a poisoned honey smile.

"You know, _Charlie_, even if you –could- pay me, I would have to decline. I tend to not like working with ignorant sluts!" She declared, smiling haughtily towards Vanessa.

"I'll show you ignorant slut…" muttered Vanessa, a bitter smile in play. Her hands already outstretched, Vanessa charged towards Isale, prepared to wring the little lady by her throat. Halfway through the process, Vanessa felt both of her wrists gathered together in a steel grip, courtesy of Charlie. She struggled fruitlessly to break free of his grasp, cursing in Spanish to avoid being understood.

In this moment, Isale meticulously took out a capsule from the poofier portion of her blouse. She tossed the capsule into the grass, a telepipe appearing. Walking calmly into the swirling mass of air, Isale lifted her chin, blue eyes glowing indescribable and a borderline psychotic grin on her face. She disappeared and warped back to Pioneer 2, leaving her last word, 'Sucker', to linger in the air…


	9. Through the forest and into the Night

Eventually loosening his grip on the struggling Vanessa's arms, he let the angry huntress break free from his hold. Running his fingers through his hair, he spoke weakly in Isale's defense. "Don't worry too much about Isale. Being arrogant is her way of being friends. Although…_technically_, you did start it-"

"That's been established, I know!" briskly cut off Vanessa, her heavy annoyance from the very thought of someone like Isale existing halfway across the universe having yet to die down. She had hoped that she had left behind people like that on earth but universally, it seemed, people were the same.

Charlie gave her a look, his expression turning aloof. He took out his rifle as he began to speak. "Just because you're upset over Isale, in no way does it qualify you taking out your anger on me. When you're calm enough to talk to me properly, meet me by the doorway." Without throwing Vanessa a second glance, he walked up a hill to the silver security door in the area.

Glaring at his back as he walked up the hill, Vanessa felt a sense of embarrassment. The emotion was immediately replaced for rage, her body starting to gain an adrenaline rush from her fury. _Calm down…not here, V, not now._ Vanessa took several breaths and kicked the ground, doing everything in her power to repress the fire burning within her. Exhaling one last time, she found her nerve and walked up to Charlie. Her hazel eyes to the forest ground, she mumbled. "…Sorry."

"It's alright," He shrugged it away, surprised she'd even apologized. Quirking a brow, he peered at her through a startling emerald iris. "Are you gonna tell me where you got that sword?"

Vanessa faltered in weighing King's sword in her hand. Fixing the broad neon sword into a comfortable position, she countered his question with her own. "Are you gonna show me your section ID?" In response to her question, Charlie smirked, his attention returning to the silver security door. He keyed in a code to the side panel of the door, opening the door and running into the next area of the forest, rifle already taking shots. Vanessa snorted. "Guess not." She rolled her eyes with a grin, joining Charlie to fight off the Boomas and Rappies inhabiting the area.

Clearing two rooms of the lightly populated forest, the two companions ran down a high grassed high hill just to make a U-turn into a larger than average room. Visible through the opening doorway was what could only be called a bulging, sickeningly huge purple sack. Three green roots supported the weird plantlike structure, suspending it approximately two feet off the ground. Charlie and Vanessa entered the room holding the bizarre plant, the duo prepared to combat it. However, as they stepped into the room, the purple sack began to expel gargantuan, melon sized purple mosquitoes. Vanessa's complexion grew a sickish honey. _Oh…cigaro!_ She dropped her sword, dashing lightning fast out the room.

Bewildered by Vanessa's sudden act of cowardice, Charlie swung his rifle over his shoulder. "Huh…" He retrieved her weapon from the grass, examining the make and craft briefly. Contorting his face from the weight of the weapon, he whispered beneath his breath at an observation, a buzzing in his ear bringing him back to the menial battle at hand. Not particularly bothered by the flying insects, he back-peddled out the room to the petrified Vanessa. He handed her back her sword, curiosity overwhelming him. "Vanessa…what's wrong? What was that about?"

Vanessa peered over her shoulder and through the doorway, thankful some force kept the mosquitoes from entering the hall connecting one area to another. Feeling stupid over her reason, she leaned her back against the rocky wall, glancing quickly to Charlie before turning her eyes onto the sky. "I don't…like…bugs," She sighed, a hand over her eyes. "I don't mind bears-"

"Boomas." Corrected Charlie.

"-or yellow penguins…" continued Vanessa.

"Rag rappies." Corrected Charlie again.

Vanessa continued. "But…I HATE…"

"Mothmants?" supplied Charlie, his rifle aiming towards one of several of the über purple insects.

"Big ass mosquitoes." Said Vanessa, her sword hand trembling in the direction of one of the flying mothmants.

Charlie couldn't help but laugh from the way Vanessa had put it. He ran a hand down his face, tearing up from the bigger picture. Recovering from his chuckling fit, Charlie eyed Vanessa in pure amusement. "Wow, you're something else. You can fight off the beasts with claws but you're scared of a mothmant, of all things!" He shook his head in momentary disbelief, at the same time, replacing his rifle for a pair of twin violet guns. "These are mechguns. Anyways, I'll kill the mothmants and to avoid the insects, you can head for the monest."

"The monest?" Vanessa raised a brow for Charlie to elaborate.

"The purple sack spewing out the mothmants. Take that out and no more mothmants. Simple enough. You ready…?" He looked down to her with a comforting smile.

Vanessa shrugged, switching her sword for her short, neon green saber. She figured it would be more effective as she tended to swing erratically at times with the sword and she knew her precision would be off with the huge weapon. Exhaling, Vanessa said. "Ready vhen you are, comvade." She smiled from her horrible attempt at a Russian accent, her smile broadening from Charlie's bemused grin.

The duo headed into the mothmant occupied room, Charlie firing several shots as soon as he entered the area. Vanessa sprinted past the exploding insect bodies and charged towards the source, holding back a nervous scream from the constant buzz in the air. Reaching the monest, she slashed at the purple sack, stopping only when the bulging monstrosity could no longer maintain its balance. It released a hiss, collapsing to the ground, blood gushing out onto the grass as the mutated flora melted into the earth.

With the death of the monest came the arrival of four boomas. However, a closer inspection of the native animals showed a slight difference in the boomas normal appearance. For one, these boomas, unlike the previous dark brown bears, held light tan fur, a pointed horn, serrated teeth, and if it were even possible, a fiercer expression on their faces. Dragging their feet in uniform steps, the creatures began to amble towards Vanessa.

Vanessa sheathed her saber, pulling out her glowing neon sword within seconds of the native beasts' arrival. Keeping her gaze trained on the four approaching her position, she hissed in Charlie's direction. "What the hell are these things?"

Charlie exchanged his mechguns for a vibrant crimson handgun. Taking aim, he fired at the backs of the approaching beasts, explaining while he placed partial concentration on the new beings. "They're goboomas; the middle age form of boomas."

"Huh…never seen 'em before…" Vanessa frowned, swinging her sword hard towards the four approaching creatures. She was partially perturbed that she hadn't noticed the beasts the previous night and may have more than one surprise on her hands. Eventually managing to get down to one remaining gobooma, she raised her left arm to fend off a blow with the green bracelet. Grinning at her success and the creature's failed strike, she pulled back her sword to execute the deathblow. Unfortunately, in this moment, the gobooma saw its opening and smacked Vanessa to the ground.

Reeling from the blow, Vanessa closed her eyes tightly. She pounded the floor with her fist, her hazel eyes wandering over to Charlie's position, attracted by the yellow sparks emanating from his being. He pulled the trigger from his ruby weapon, lightning raining down from the sky and striking the gobooma down. Vanessa backed away from its melting body quickly and stared up to Charlie in surprise. "Now how'd you do THAT?"

He raised his eyebrows and smiled, waving his fingers mystically and oohing out. "It's MAGIC!"

"Sure it was…" Vanessa rolled her eyes, pushing off from the ground with her hand and springing to her feet. Dusting off the damp pieces of grass from her backside, she threw a dangerous hazel iris to Charlie. "Now seriously, how'd you do it?" She asked, tone flat.

Getting out of his theatrics, Charlie holstered his mechgun, replacing them for his rifle. He said. "Some weapons have specials built in added on as a…hmm…novelty of sorts by the creator. You can tell if a weapon has a special if there's a small neon button on the hilt. Some specials are zonde-"

"Za-what?" Vanessa arched a brow, in wonder as to what on earth he could be speaking of.

"Lightning," simplified Charlie. "That's the special contained on my red handgun. Others specials range from confusion to even paralysis."

"Oh…that's…wow!" Vanessa took in the new information, unable to even find the words to properly express her amazement. She nibbled on her lower lip, holding back a smile. "Never heard of any weapon like that in my life. Can…my sword do that?" She held it out for Charlie to take, somewhat hesitant to let him inspect the borrowed weapon.

Charlie took her sword and checked over it, concealing a frown over the suspicious weapon behind a jovial smile. Eventually, he said. "No, sorry Vanessa. But your saber and handgun hold a special but I leave that for you to figure out." He winked boyishly, having already anticipated her unasked question.

Pouting playfully and raising her chin dignified, Vanessa hmphed. "Fine. I'll figure out someday over the rainbow. Right, now back to the fighting and the shooting and the killing, ese…?" Overly cheerful from the prospect of entering back into the fray, Vanessa ran through the thick automatic security door ahead of her with Charlie close behind.

Breezing through the forest while taking their occasional hits, the duo cleared three areas full of boomas, goboomas, and rag rappies, soon coming into a wide open clearing. The room was around the size of an average high school classroom but looked nothing like one. Huge boulders jutted out from the opposite side of the room and grass sprouted up from literally everywhere save for the enormous rocks and the beaten dirt path leading into the center of the room. At the halfway point of the room was an ankle deep serpentine river that ran through the grassy boundaries and beyond. Across the room and over the river was a glowing orange triangular teleporter. The only thing in the way was what appeared to be a dark pink gobooma with a prominently pointier head.

"It's a gigobooma. The evolved form of a gobooma." Charlie stepped fully into the room, closing one eye and aiming carefully with the other. "And now…it's dead." He fired out three abnormally loud shots from his red handgun, the gigobooma taking each hit full on, dying instantly from the last critical blow.

Rolling her tongue over a pointer than usual canine, Vanessa narrowed her eyes, feeling another round of cynicism surge up. "So…why didn't you do that from the very beginning again?" She already started walking to the transporter, sword resting casually over her shoulder.

"Thought I'd let you get the feel of fighting the native animals," Shrugged Charlie while unconsciously holstering his red handgun.

"You don't say…" Vanessa trailed off, her hazel eyes glancing nervously around the proximity. Crossing over the snaking pristine river, she felt a wave of goose bumps run over her; the hairs on her arm bristle despite the lack of wind. A faint noise reached her line of hearing. A howl so low she wasn't sure if it was real or fatigue playing tricks on her mentality. Her eyes landing on Charlie, he confirmed her suspicions by motioning for her to stop, he as still as the grave.

"It would seem…we have company," He smiled, a trace amount of acerbity illuminating his normally untroubled eyes.

As if on cue, leaping out from behind the grass and rock borders were four catlike animals, the band of beasts taking care to quickly surround the duo. The animals resembled cheetahs in length and that's where all similarities ended. Three of the cheetah looking animals held dirtied tan fur. Going down their spines were light blue ridges that extended down to their tails. The blue ridges were also on the side of the animals' thighs and legs, even running down to their feet. The creatures' faces held hints of sapphire, their eyes all the same cold and menacing claret. The fourth animal within the pack held virtually the same characteristics with the exception of its fur being completely blue.

"What are they…?" whispered Vanessa, back to back with Charlie, her eyes darting between each unfriendly animal face.

"Savage wolves. The blue one is a barbarous wolf; the leader of the pack. If we were to take that one out it would make killing the rest relatively easier," Charlie explained, glad he had put away his handgun.

"Oy, you don't say," Vanessa raised her sword in the direction of the beasties, a cold sweat over her forehead. Forcing a grimace away from the soreness in her arms, she smiled, posing a rhetorical question. "Do we fight or do we run? Decisions, decisions…"

Charlie took out two light silver long barreled guns. Purple plasma ran through the bottom front, the argentine metal of the weapon holding the faintest of a cerulean chill. Keeping his eyes forward, he said. "We run."

Lowering her sword in surprise over his response to her rhetorical question, Vanessa furrowed her brows. "What…why? Since when?" The Leo side of her couldn't bear simply walking away from a battle, it didn't seem…right.

Risking a glance, Charlie smiled with a sagacious lament. "Vanessa, aren't you curious as to WHY they haven't attacked us yet? These animals are far more dishonorable and cowardly then we can ever be. They'll wait until one of our backs is turned before leaping…and if we give them the opportunity, our little venture would fail before even beginning," He lost his smile, instead raising a brow. "I know I can't take another hit at the moment. Can you?" He scrutinized the young huntress before him under his scintillating solemn emerald eyes.

_Damn it…_ Vanessa broke away from his stare, turning her eyes onto the leader of the pack so as to concentrate on her thoughts. In truth, fatigue had started to ebb at her for the past few hours but it mainly dealt with overworking herself the night before with King and there was no proper way to explain that situation off so she had chosen to remain quiet. However, she knew if something was to knock her down once more, she wouldn't get back up. And dying on an alien planet wasn't high on her list of expectations. _Grrrrrr….!! _ Sighing in defeat, Vanessa tentatively sheathed her sword. "Got any plans? Or can we outrun them…?"

"When I say run, head for the teleporter." Without further explanation, Charlie directed his twin purple fluid guns towards two wolves prowling closely together. His arms started to glow, first dimly, then in a whitish blue haze. The area lost all its warmth, an Arctic wind filling the ether. From each gun, he let out three shots to his current targets.

The purple beams of light, upon impacting the two wolves, did by far, the strangest most incomprehensible thing Vanessa had seen occur on the planet. Each of the wolves hit by the shots was encased in a thick layer of ice, the spring zephyr playing casually over their frozen forms. So entranced was Vanessa by the sight, she barely heard Charlie's order to run, fingers tingling in curiosity over how one of the frozen spectacles would feel beneath her fingertips. Luckily, she regained her senses, shaking her head and dashing backwards away from the wolves and to the transporter. Charlie was close behind her, having already frozen the other two prowling wolves in the area. Vanessa felt her lips begin to twitch from their minor victory, her happiness fading from noticing something off about the first pair of frozen wolves.

_You're kidding…!_

The thick layer of ice encasing their bodies began to crack, the ice breaking in an increasingly elaborate spider web pattern from their heads down. By the time Charlie made it inside the radiant orange transporter, the head of the pack, the barbarous wolf, was completely defrosted, fur damp and anger unchecked. The wolf circled the teleporter, baring its fangs in its distaste and hunger. Leaping with its jaws wide open towards the triangular transporter containing the two full-sized meals, the beast crashed into the rocky wall, eating nothing but air. The duo had managed to escape…

* * *

The visible portions of sky swirled a bluish grey hue, the remaining smoky azure blotted out by the thick blanket of overcast clouds covering the planet, a light drizzle coating the area. Beyond the closed doorway ahead stood a huge blue and white dome and two metallic silver buildings. A trodden grassy hill around the corner led downward and opened up into a small field of flattened earth surrounded by green flora. Blocking off the view of the rest of the landscape was a huge border of mossy rocks and what appeared to be a wide and thick 40 ft tree trunk buried under a sea of moss.

Around the apparently safe area, Charlie and Vanessa reintegrated out of a tall and blue triangular teleporter. Vanessa walked out of the teleporter drunkenly, a slight dizzy bounce to her step. Her hazel eyes breezing over the proximity, finding a suitable spot; she plopped herself down on the wet grass. "Ugh, that felt like a too fast tilt-a-whirl…" She groaned, the disorientating effects of the transporter having yet to wear off. Tilting her face towards the sky, Vanessa let the cool drizzle sprinkle her face. "So what are we gonna do now…?" she inquired, voice drowning in fatigue.

Charlie smiled, hardly bothered from the hasty transportation. Taking a seat next to her, he shrugged and then swung his hands behind his head. "Get comfy. We're sleeping here tonight…"

"What?!" Vanessa quickly snapped out of her exhaustion, eyes open wide, sure she'd heard him wrong. His expression saying otherwise, one of her brows shot up. "Why? Can't we telepipe back to Pioneer 2? We can't sleep in the rain!" exclaimed Vanessa. She groaned again, lying back on the moisture covered grass in semi disbelief.

"Telepipes don't work well in the rain. And we're not sleeping directly under the bad weather," he rolled his eyes upward with a smirk from the idea. Searching over his attire, he took from a concealed upper pocket a dark green capsule and tossed it into the clearing below them. The capsule, on impact, started to grow and morph until it was roughly the size of an enormous square shaped tent. "THIS is where we'll be sleeping."

Vanessa stared in surprise at the forest green tent and how physics was consistently being defied on Ragol. She started to inquiry about the origins of the tent when a question of greater significance crossed her mind. Making a face, Vanessa glanced aside. "So wait, you and me are sleeping in the _same_ tent? _Together_?" she said slowly.

Charlie blinked curiously, his mind skimming over what the huntress before him could possibly be thinking. Getting what she had in mind, Charlie looked Vanessa over carefully. "That's...the general idea." He walked down the flattened path and to the entrance of the tent. Arching his brow, a devious grin formed. "Not unless you don't think you can control yourself..."

"Oh yes, you've found me out, I can't resist you," droned Vanessa, eyes almost rolling into the back of her head from her sarcasm. Calmed down from his light approach to the scenario, she jumped down into the clearing, walking around and into the tent.

The plain exterior of the tent betrayed the spacious interior of the green canvas. Resting in the center of the tent was a small fire bordered by numerous oblong rocks. Two tan and blue furred sleeping bags lay juxtaposed on the right of the vibrant flames. Hovering over the fire was a metallic blue pot, filled to the brim with booma stew, two bowls waiting to be filled resting on the sleeping bags.

Whistling as the scene registered in her mind, Vanessa shook her head, her system of logic defeated. "...anime meets world of Harry Potter, only explanation," Meeting Charlie's eyes and seeing the confusion that arrived from her statement, she corrected herself. "In other words, this is tres weird." She sat down on one of the fur sleeping bags, accepting a bowl of stew handed to her from Charlie.

"Actually, this is standard for any HUNTER with a section ID who goes to Ragol." Explained Charlie.

Vanessa made a face, a second after, putting on a facade of indifference. "You MUST have a section ID in order to be on Ragol?"

"Basically." Answered Charlie with a shake of his shoulders, the green haired ranger stirring his stew slowly.

"I see..." Vanessa resisted the temptation to stroke her chin. She raised her brow, her gaze turning to her evening meal, her thoughts, for once, far away from her stomach. Risking a glance Charlie's way, she scrutinized his outfit for a minute and briefly squinted. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Vanessa already knew by some means or another, one of several mysteries would be resolved before the night's end.

Vanessa looked up from her bowl of thick soup every so often, tepidly placing her bowl down upon Charlie's finish of his meal. Feeling her cheeks already begin to flush from what her next course of action would be, she began nibbling on her lower lip. _Here goes nothing... _Crawling over to the relaxing Charlie, Vanessa laid down next to him. She draped an arm over his neck, burying her cheek into his shoulder; face aflame from her abnormal behavior.

Only able to blink at the cinnamon arm resting across him and the cuddling Vanessa leaning into his shoulder, Charlie fought his first reaction. He closed his eyes instead, voice coming out unsteady. "Vanessa...what are you doing?"

"Nothing..." Breathed Vanessa deceptively innocent over his neck. She leaned back, her heated cheek cuddling deeper into his neck. Her hand eased up to the object that caught her eye earlier, the leather necklace around his neck. The rest of the necklace was concealed by his bodysuit and with his section ID emblem nowhere on his armor Vanessa could only assume. Two of her fingers gently gripped the thin leather. "...just wanna see something." Hoping grace would be on her side, Vanessa snatched off the necklace, pushing off of Charlie and dashing out of the tent.

Snapping his eyes open and realizing what Vanessa had been up to, Charlie stared at the ghost of her footsteps left in the tent. He slapped his hand over his forehead, humored that she had the gall to pull such a trick and over what he initially thought she held in mind. Rolling his eyes, he eventually exited the tent and to the waiting Vanessa.

Vanessa stood outside the tent, a smug smile gracing her somewhat exotic features. "So you're a whitill after all..." She threw Charlie his leather necklace, a white metallic emblem dangling down the black cord. Vanessa lifted her chin, a demonic glow in her hazel eyes. "And if you're a whitill, dollars to donuts you're name ain't Charlie." She pointed out with a grin, the feeling of being right a high on its own.

Charlie smiled guiltily, his necklace twirling around his index finger. He caught the emblem in his palm after a minute and closed his eyes. Placing his necklace around his neck, he nodded. "That is correct. But I rarely ever provide my REAL name unless it's under certain circumstances. For example, if I'm on my deathbed, it wouldn't matter then. Or you know, if I'm insanely drunk or something," He chuckled, messing up his jade hair with a hand. His emerald eyes cheerful, Charlie stated. "You can continue to call me "Charlie" if you wish or you can come up with a name. Your call."

"Hmm..." Vanessa contemplated the minor issue, clapping her hands suddenly. She beamed, pointing a finger to him as she formed a mock British accent. "I would LOVE to call you Amon. You bear a striking resemblance to him!"

Quirking his brow, Charlie gave her a sideways glance. "What, is he your lover?" he questioned slyly.

"What?" Taken aback by the inquiry, Vanessa shook her head, doing a double take. "What?! No! He's not even real!" She laughed. "He's this animated character from...well, an anime." Noticing Charlie's bewilderment, she attempted to explain. "Okay, it's like a moving drawing in color on those glass sheets with voices and you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" she finished with a resolved sigh.

"Not a clue," admitted Charlie, amused that Vanessa even tried to provide an explanation. He walked up to her and tilted his head in slight wonder. "How does this Amon look?"

"Like you, what else can be said?" Vanessa gave a half grin as she thought out loud. "Well, he's tall, he has this whole dark enigmatic aura clouding him and he's oh so han..." Trailing off, Vanessa stopped herself from finishing the description. She clapped her hands, lifting both brows. "Hey, you know what, let's go to sleep!" Vanessa jumped inside the tent and by the time Charlie entered, the fire was out and she was beginning to curl up into a sleeping bag. "Night!"

"Yeah, you to..." Charlie mumbled awkwardly, surprised at the abrupt end to their conversation. Leaving his questions to himself, he dragged himself into a sleeping bag and eventually into slumber...


	10. Bartles and Barbles and Hidelts, oh my!

Vanessa took a breath, the sound of her breathing echoing in the vast expansion of darkness that had encroached upon her. She tried to see through the shadow, unable to shake the feeling of eyes on her. Piercing, staring, breaking into her, watching. She whipped around, catching a glimpse of gold in the distance, the flashing white of an eerie smile. _The hell...?_

Against her better judgment, Vanessa tiptoed towards the only source of light, the golden orbs levitating in the distance with the fanged teeth now concealed in the dimness. Her hand reached out to grasp the oddity, a sharp jab to her shoulder breaking the chimera's hold over her.

The darkness shattered into jagged pieces, a new, friendlier black filling her sight. Vanessa felt another sharp poke into her shoulder, the fur she was laying on beginning to fully register. Again, she felt a poke. She clung onto her furry pillow, shaking it off and trying to ignore it but the persistent jabs refused to cease. Whipping the sleeping bag cover off of her head, Vanessa opened a grouchy hazel eye and found Charlie kneeling by her, his finger still poking her. He started to prick her again, Vanessa grabbing the opposing finger in a vice grip.

Through gritted teeth, Vanessa muttered. "A simple 'wake up' would have sufficed."

Charlie acknowledged the fact with a nod. "Yeah, I know, but I figured this method would be more effective." He offered a buoyant grin while running his fingers through Vanessa's thick mane. Messing up her hair in seconds, he stopped and said. "Time to go."

Vanessa exhaled heavily, annoyed at being woken from her sleep. She got up tiredly and ran her fingers through her hair, unsure of what to do with the mess. Deciding not to do much at all, she used the grey wraparound that came with her outfit as a headband, content with the outcome. Taking her fill of what remained of breakfast; afterwards, she joined up with Charlie outside the tent.

"You ready?" Charlie asked. Seeing Vanessa nod, he clicked a button on the tent. The gargantuan green canvas imploded in on itself, collapsing and morphing into its original, petite capsule form.

Resisting the urge to laugh from the irregular sight, her humor dissipated with something coming to memory. "D'oh!" Vanessa slapped her forehead, eyes closed tightly. "Ay dios mio...my sword...AND saber...was in the tent," she pointed to the capsule resting in Charlie's hand. "That..."

"Hmm...well not really..." Charlie said thoughtfully. From his pocket he took out two neon green plasma cells, one slightly bigger than the other. He propelled the 2 tubes to Vanessa with a side glance. "Though it's not like they would've done you a lot of good anyway. Those are the main fuel behind your weapons. The only thing you left in the tent were the...shells, you can say. Here," Charlie removed from his pockets 2 red capsules. "You're upgraded sword and saber."

Accepting the new weaponry apprehensively, Vanessa pocketed the outdated glowing green tubes, figuring later they might have their uses. She clicked one of the new crimson capsules, the pill changing into a painstakingly designed blood red hilt. Ejecting out from the hilt was the sword, the center of the weapon a stained white outlined in black. The weapon emanated a dark yet luminous claret glow, a vast opposite to the cheerful spring day. Vanessa could only stare captivated by the beautiful, almost ominous weapon, stunned it was even in her possession.

Perking a brow while watching the new weapon enthrall Vanessa, Charlie waved a hand in front of her face to break her gaze. He smirked. "It's called the 'Red sword' for obvious reasons. It'll be far more effective than your normal sword and saber combo."

"Effective?" Vanessa began on a series of practice swings, highly pleased with the performance of the sword. Between swings, she made a face. "Against what, boomas?"

"No..." Charlie drawled out slowly. He opened the doorway directly in front of them, revealing the morning dew covering the new area and the native creature in the immediate proximity. Pointing in the direction of a beast, he said. "Against those."

Vanessa glanced into the doorway. Catching a glimpse of the creature from the corner of her eye, she spun her head 90 degrees, dropping her sword in surprise. Gone were the furry boomas Vanessa had gotten use to bringing down on a daily basis. In place of the bear like creature was a large rocky tortoise, almost six feet in height. It held small violet eyes and walked on two legs with a hunched over back, it one of five in the new clearing.

_Like Disney on crack on the Jurassic park ride, geeze!_ Vanessa stared, mouth slightly agape. She swallowed and asked. "What ARE those things?"

"Bartles, the upgraded form of the booma. They're faster than they initially appear so be careful." Charlie advised.

"Hmm," nodded Vanessa, her grip tight on her powerful new weapon.

The duo took a deep breath, sharing a glance before walking through the doorway. Immediately upon entering the room the once ambling bartles gained speed, attacking the two with an unforeseen agility. Charlie fought long distance while Vanessa did her best up close, and after the duo received their fair share of blows, the bartles fell in defeat.

Vanessa whipped her head back, moving thick strands of raven from her vision. "That was easy." Said Vanessa halfheartedly, voice revealing her weariness.

"It's not over," Charlie pointed to a dark grey security door to the left. "The doors' still locked so something is still around here."

The pair waited in the unsettlingly empty clearing. The blood stained grass was ruffled by an invisible wind, an annoyingly loud buzzing soon interrupting the quiet in the area. Vanessa looked around in wonder, baffled by the sudden buzzing and barely able to hear herself think. Her eyes wandered over to Charlie and her bafflement increased tenfold, the ranger's rifle aimed towards the sky. Moving her eyes from his gun to the air, she saw a huge bulging navy blue sack being carried to the ground by four mutated mosquitoes. A shudder left Vanessa automatically.

However, before the sack could land, an explosive shot left Charlie's rifle and the blue sack shattered on the blow's impact, leaving a batch of irregular mosquitoes in its midst.

The mutated mosquitoes nose-dived in Vanessa's direction and Vanessa, on guard, attempted to swing at the oversized insects. Anticipating her move, the mosquitoes flew away from the blow, then back down to her. _Eek!_ Growing frantic, Vanessa swung again, a mosquito moving away from her assault and pricking her hand. She dropped her sword instantly to tend to her hand, almost slapping herself when she realized her mistake. Vanessa dived to retrieve her weapon but moved back in repulsion as two mosquitoes swarmed over the hilt.

The remaining trio of steroid enhanced mosquitoes started to fly slowly in Vanessa's direction, knowing the young femme had no place to run to. Vanessa crept along the moss covered wall, calling out weakly to Charlie. "Uhh...I could do with a bit of HELP!"

"I'm a bit BUSY!" shouted Charlie over his shoulder, his attention on the four mosquitoes swarming him.

_So much for that..._ Vanessa gulped, continuing her methodical creeping along the wet green wall, her hazel eyes glued to the advancing mosquitoes. Her hands continued to feel against the wall until her hands finally swiped at air, Vanessa almost losing her balance as she ran out of wall. Feeling desperate, her fingers found dangling pieces of ivy. Parting the tangled ivy wall, taking her chances, she pushed herself backwards, entering into a concealed room of the forest. Seeing the mosquitoes unable to follow her, she exhaled heavily, then flipping off the buzzing creatures and turning to investigate the crevice in the rocks.

The room was heavily adorned in dark green, ivy leaves coating the walls, floor; the very air inhaled inside the small room smelled of flora but at intoxicating levels if it were possible. Further down in the room was a tinge of brown dying to be seen beneath its emerald coat.

Vanessa wandered over to the tanned portion of the wall and found herself ripping the thick vines and greenery from the brown, an enormous column soon revealed. The column seemed roughly twelve feet high and more tan than brown. Strange symbols were embedded in the column, the centerpiece of the pillar looking to be the redbull logo. _Oy, that's cutesy..._

Vanessa started to dust the logo off to confirm her suspicion, the logo sinking into the pillar with her first touch. Simultaneous to her move, the column shook fiercely, the logo glowing ruby bright and vertical strips along the column gaining the same eerie glow. Powered from the very earth beneath it, the column began to hum, golden energy pulsating from its being. _Oops...?_ Vanessa backed away apprehensively, unsure of what new trouble she may have activated.

"Vanessa!"

_Crap!_ Vanessa whipped her head around to the entrance, trying to pinpoint where outside the room Charlie's voice came from. She didn't want to risk him discovering the twelve foot mistake she'd activated. Hearing him call her name, his voice sounding distant, Vanessa stealthily ducked out of the ivy laden room. "Over here!"

Charlie performed a 180, turning to face Vanessa with wide eyes. "Talk about an act..." He came over to her, handing back her sword. "...you reappeared out of nowhere. You okay...?" Gently tilting her chin upwards, Charlie checked her face for any abrasions or odd marks from wherever she'd gone.

Allowing Charlie to give her a mini-physical, Vanessa gave an assuring nod after a minute. "I'm alright..." She grabbed his hand, lowering it away from her face. "I'm alright," Vanessa said firmly. She gave his hand a soft squeeze, beaming from cheek to cheek. "Now let's go!" Letting go of his hand, Vanessa raced through the newly opened door, hoping Charlie would follow and not question her earlier whereabouts.

Charlie's eyes darted from his hand to the running girl ahead of him, an inquisitive glow to his eyes. He shook his head with a quirky grin, going after the strange femme and fighting several Bartles by her side. With the last Bartles demise by the hands of the duo, three penguin sized white parrots fell from the sky.

Vanessa gasped, her hazel eyes softening. She sheathed her sword, whispering to Charlie. "They're so cute..." She cocked her head, thinking them far too adorable to hurt, scowling from her thought. _Damn...I can be SUCH a girl sometimes!_

Rolling his eyes over Vanessa's antics and starting to take aim, he mouthed 'you're not serious' as Vanessa moved in the way of his shot. Closing his eyes, an agitated smirk gracing his features, he began a mental countdown from ten.

"Wait, just hear me out, eh?" Vanessa kneeled down next to the bird, ruffling the white feathers on its head. "Can't we let them go?" she pleaded, her fingers still kneading through the creature's fur. Opening her mouth to speak, she stopped herself, noting a word silently leave Charlie's lips. _One...?_

The bird in her arms lost its docile nature, suddenly poking Vanessa hard in the thigh, breaking through skin and flesh. "Shigaro!!" Vanessa held back a curse, crying out in surprise from the strike, a trickle of blood falling down her leg. Lashing out to the oversized parrot viciously, she limped over to Charlie and sat down on the grass. "I take it back, assassinate them!"

Tempted to laugh, Charlie mock gasped. ""But they're soooo cute...!" Receiving a dirty look from Vanessa, he openly laughed while disposing of the winged white creatures. Holstering his gun when done, he helped Vanessa to her feet and handed her a small green pill. "Take this, its a-"

"Monomate!" Vanessa quickly took the miracle drug and popped the pill in her mouth. She scrunched up her face, guilt flashing through her hazel eyes from the slip of her tongue.

Charlie stared blankly to Vanessa. He raised an eyebrow, backing Vanessa up to a security door, staring down to her carefully. "Vanessa, how do you know what a monomate is? What are you hiding from me?" he asked her slowly.

Vanessa looked Charlie in the eyes, a devilish grin across her face. "How come you can't tell me your real name? What are you hiding from me?" she countered.

A smirk broke through Charlie's somber expression. "I'll find out sooner or later." He chuckled and walked through the next doorway.

Gaining an innocent expression, Vanessa put her hands behind her back. "So will I, 'Charlie', so will I..."

The pair sprinted down a grassy hall, skidding to a stop when three 6ft tortoises with darker shells and olive eyes appeared. Charlie muttered beneath his breath, already taking out his rifle. "Barbles..."

Vanessa clutched her sword tightly despite the weariness beginning to take ahold of her. She sighed. "Shouldn't be -too- hard..."

Twenty minutes into combat, Charlie and Vanessa managed to kill the trio of speedy tortoises. The two fighters shared four monomates, then moved into an open grass field bordered by high rocks and vegetation. The duo barely reached the center when what looked like four thick-skinned rhinoceroses leapt over the border of greenery and circled the duo. Exhaustion starting to enter Charlie and Vanessa, they fought off the four Gulgus's slower than usual, eventually wasting the rhino type beings.

Wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, Vanessa looked around and became astonished. After everything they'd fought, the door was still locked. "We're not done YET? I'm about to give up." She reduced her sword to its hilt, sliding down against the locked door to the floor.

Charlie took a seat next to her. He examined the clearing, his expression growing pensive. "I don't think there's anything left for us to fight. Either the door is malfunctioning or more than likely the door switch must be on the other side. One of us will have to go up and over to open the door..." Charlie turned his gaze onto Vanessa, staring to the native born New Yorker with intent.

_Jerk...!_ Vanessa's eyebrow twitched, indifference on her face. Her eyes narrowed sharply, hazel irises showing her fear and irritation. "I'm guessing the 'one' going on the potential suicide quest is me?"

Smiling at the way Vanessa phrased it, Charlie got to his feet. "Not unless you can lift ME up."

Vanessa got up and sighed deeply. She threw back her head wearily. "Boost me over." She ordered.

Charlie handed her 2 olive pills slightly larger than a monomate. "They're dimates," he explained. "If you run into heavy trouble, take one." Helping her over the security door, he supplied some last minute advice. "Head straight for the switch, move around anything in your way and good luck." He pushed her all the way over the grey door, leaving Vanessa on her own...

--------------------------

Vanessa fell to her knees, heart beating at an unsettling rate. She couldn't blame herself for feeling a little terrified though. With the exception of when she arrived on the planet, this was her first time alone in a section of the forest. Skimming her hands over the grassy walls, she strolled into a clearing of grass, observing the room before her. In the far end of the room stood a cerulean blue door switch. Next to it, almost hidden by a baby mountain was a garnet red laser security gate.

_Okay..._ Vanessa pulled out her saber, the short neon blade glowing red in the area. She exhaled, closing her eyes, the feeling from her shadowy dream returning. Brushing it off, she opened her eyes. _Just run and I'll make it...right._

Vanessa took a deep breath, sprinting nervously across the grassy field. She didn't make it a quarter of the way through when a disproportioned animal leapt from the sky, shaking the ground on impact. The new creature had the structure of an oversized ape but with horns and its face resembled a bat; it was as if a child rearranged its body to create a grotesque being.

_Whoa!_ Vanessa backed away from the creature, unsure of how she could get a strike in. Hearing another heavy thud behind her, she cursed, already knowing another ape like creature was behind her. Her hair being blown to the right from the 3rd creature's heavy breathing on her left made her think she _might_ have made a mistake.

Seeing no safe battle could be fought under the conditions, Vanessa evaded the first disastrous punch from the creature, running away to her only available opening. A crackle of electricity left the throat of the third beast and Vanessa gasped, a white hot paining coursing through her veins, her body. She couldn't lift the weapon in her hands, she couldn't even move. _Shock? They SHOCK?!_ The three bizarre apeish creatures marched uniformly towards Vanessa. Separated by feet from the unfortunate huntress, they pulled back their fists in what would be a group assault.

Vanessa didn't bother closing her eyes as she knew she'd collapse in fear if she didn't see the damage she'd receive. Her body numb, she inhaled, preparing for her untimely death through prayer. _Didn't see this coming...I'm in your hands now._

Three impossibly loud shots pierced the air, insects and birds untouched by the fury infecting the native creatures flying upwards from the terrible noise. However, it wasn't the sound of Vanessa being destroyed by the mismatched bat-gorillas. Instead, three shots had been _fired_ and as a product, the brute like creatures were encased in solid ice.

_Charlie?_ Vanessa turned to the doorway, expecting to see an emerald eyed savior. All she saw was the locked metal doorway. _Curious..._ No longer in shock, she took a step. In a moment, less than seconds, cold golden eyes flashed in her mind, disappearing the second they arrived. Vanessa shook her head, perturbed.

_Getting over the freaky Lord of the Rings moment...didn't see any of THAT coming either. What just happened...?_ pondered Vanessa, her booted feet making haste to the blue door lock. She pounded the top of the colored glass tube, finally opening the door for Charlie.

Charlie made his entrance at first slowly, then hurriedly at seeing what Vanessa had been up against and through some miracle or another, lived to unlock the door for him. He killed the first two brutes before they thoroughly defrosted, the third creature jumping out of the range of his shot. Impacting the ground inches from Charlie, the creature, the Hildelt, landed a blow to Charlie's chest. Charlie sailed through the air, falling hard to his back. The hildelt towered over him, prepared to annihilate the ranger, its fist lifted upwards and ready. It let its arm fly, the muscular fist mysteriously halting inches from Charlie's face.

The jade eyed ranger stared at the hairy fist, unsure of what to think, he unable to breathe. Seeing the creature roar in its death cry, Charlie exhaled heavily, muttering in what sounded to be gibberish as the Hildelt collapsed to the ground.

Vanessa stood behind the melting body of the animal, panting heavily and still in her mock fighter stance. She waited until she was sure her adrenaline rush had faded before forming a smile. "Sorry I took so long, was in a wee bit of a shock!" she knew it was corny, but Vanessa couldn't resist the minor pun. She helped Charlie back to his feet. "You alright?" She offered Charlie one of her dimates, Charlie politely refusing.

"You never know on Ragol, you might need it. Though..." Leaning against a mossy wall and taking a breather, he furrowed his brows. "How did you freeze all three of them? I'd ask if you knew gibarta but you don't seem to identify techniques."

"Gi-what...?" Vanessa blinked baffled from the very word. She leaned her shoulder into the wall, quirking a brow. "Honestly? I was hoping you'd tell me...thought you pulled some crazy trick. Guess it's faith..."

"More strange than anything else..." He inhaled deeply, his fingers going down his chest holding a faint glow.

Vanessa squeezed his shoulder apologetically for the only answer she could create...even if she didn't fully believe it herself. _Faith my arse...God doesn't wield a gun._ Her eyes ventured over the grassy borders, curiosity ebbing at her terribly. She pushed away the many questions in mind, going after Charlie through the currently blue security lasers.

The two entered a small pale blue triangular teleporter and were immediately transferred to a different area of the forest. _Ghost town Agrabah sans the sand? _The new area of the forest reminded Vanessa of something out of a street bazaar. Portions of the ground were rectangular strips of azure with a fading yellow border. The wall ahead of the pair had an archaic look, cracks streaking the aging cement. Huge buildings in ostensible ruin finished the background of the odd scene.

Replacing her saber for her sword, Vanessa asked Charlie breathlessly. "Where are we...?"

"We're near the central dome which is close to the former residential area."

"And what are those?" Vanessa pointed to three 5ft overgrown, six-legged and light green insects; the prospect of having to see the insects let alone fight them was hardly enticing.

"Those are tollaws. Now, they may look like bugs but don't drop your sword and run away..." Teased Charlie.

In response, Vanessa stuck out her tongue. "I'm not scared of a bug that sounds like a backwards towel." She scowled, her earlier fears swept away from his taunt. She leapt into combat with the insect creatures, beating them down with back-up fire from Charlie, he getting the last shot in on the remaining tollaw.

The tollaw melted into the earth, leaving behind a crimson puddle and weirdly enough, a red capsule. Charlie kneeled by the liquid remains of the tollaw and clicked on the capsule. On touch, the capsule morphed, changing into a blue and black gun, the word "Milla" painstakingly engraved into the side of the weapon. "How about that?" murmured Charlie.

Having been able to refrain from cursing in front of Charlie, Vanessa's tongue slipped in her bewilderment. "What the hell...?

Charlie reduced Milla into capsule form, pocketing the ruby gem with a grin. "Remember when I told you the tale of Pioneer 1 and how they settled here? They weren't sure exactly what would be greeting them here so Pioneer came prepared. The people onboard Pioneer 2 are guessing that when the explosion rocked the planet, the storage house holding the weaponry got destroyed, countless items scattered over the surface of Ragol. The animals eat random things an-"

"Okay..." Interrupted Vanessa, her head beginning to hurt from the oddities of the new universe. "I gets it, just saving ya explanation time..." Stated Vanessa as she hadn't meant to cut Charlie off.

Charlie nodded in understanding and motioned for Vanessa to follow him. They walked through a doorway and around the corner. The door to their right was grey cement with little red bulbs of light. The occasional spark streamed down the bulbs, the door out of order. Directly ahead of the duo stood an overly large rectangular teleporter illuminated by neon orange rings of light.

The two moved to step inside the teleporter, Charlie stopping Vanessa inches away. He kept his emerald gaze on the fiery rings. "This should lead us underneath the Central Dome..." Explained Charlie. He proceeded to give her 8 more dimates and replaced her frame and barrier with a Celestial Shield and a Celestial Armor. Averting his gaze from the upward moving orange rings, he perked a brow to Vanessa. "You may need the little upgrade for what lies beneath..." He gave a mysterious grin, waltzing her into the transporter.

Vanessa could only nod, not sure what to expect, her new armor weightless and invisible to the naked eye. She placed her index finger on Charlie's emblem and Charlie ran a finger from her shoulder to the key lime green emblem in the center of her choker. Taking a deep breath, the duo clicked each other's emblems and spiraled away...


	11. Of Borealis’s and Beast's of Flight

The sky had faded into navy blue, the sun having set possibly months ago. Numerous stars illuminated the evening sky, the white dots of light twirling and bunching up in splotches, a beautiful design against the sea of black ether. An Aurora Borealis glowed deep in the distance, it a rare sight holding a swirling array of colors. Also in the background were two huge floating icebergs, drifting in the deep blue semi-frozen ocean. The only walking space was a wide open field of pure white snow. Offsetting the pristine white clearing were two figures, a green haired ranger and a hazel eyed huntress.

As soon as they landed, the half dressed Vanessa immediately felt the biting winds of the tundra setting. Clutching her arms, she fell to her knees, unable to adjust to the drastic climate drop. "Good GOD its cold!" Vanessa leaned on her knees, trying to regain a sense of her bearings.

"Hmm..." Charlie analyzed the new area, surprised they arrived there. "We're not even supposed to be here," His breath came out misty, the ranger taking in the beauty of the location. He checked the communicator attached to his arm. "Here being Ragol's ice caps. Apparently, the teleporter malfunctioned."

"Yeah, okay," Vanessa said, her tone weak and dull. Her hazel eyes had caught a horrible scene when she lifted her gaze from the ground and for a minute, she could only stare in heavy disdain. The cold she initially felt was overcome by the intense fear felt from the sight. Getting back to her feet, she took out her magnificent red sword, examining it to keep distracted. "Uhhh...Charlie?"

"Hmm?" Charlie gave up on sending a fix of their location back to Pioneer 2, turning his attention onto Vanessa.

"Yeah…what the- is that?!?" Vanessa exclaimed, eyes closed and voice squeaky. She pointed her glowing sword in the direction of a flying monolith in the distance.

Steadily approaching the two fighters was what appeared to be a gargantuan twenty foot dragon. Obtruding from both sides of its head were large weather beaten horns, each looking as sharp as they were deadly. Its serpentine eyes easily spotting the two, the dragon began on a swift decline towards its prey.

Charlie blinked once, twice, his communicator beeping finally bringing him back into reality. He lifted his arm calmly. "That…would be the Silver Dragon." Lowering his arm, Charlie slowly reached for his handgun. He shrugged. "Or Sil Dragon if you wanna be exact."

"Hmmm…really?" Vanessa broke her gaze from the approaching creature and twisted up her face in disagreement. "It looks more like a bluish platinum or dull blue from here…" she muttered. Her grip tightened on her sword as she reluctantly turned her focus back to the creature. Taking a look at her surroundings, Vanessa had already figured running was out of the picture. _And drowning/hypothermia isn't high on my list on how I wanna die either…_

Making an entrance, the dragon impacted the snow covered ground, creating a wave of snow and ice. Folding in its grayish yellow wings, the creature roared horribly into the night sky.

Charlie glanced at Vanessa, expecting a far from enthusiastic response from the command about to leave his lips. "Vanessa…run towards the dragon and try and hit its legs."

"Try and do WHAT?!" Vanessa blinked hard, shaking snow out of her hair. All her fears vanished from the insane proposal. "Are you out of your ass, are you out of your MIND?!" Her full attention shifted to Charlie.

"Just do it." Charlie returned her gaze, his emerald eyes hardly joking. He actually seemed to be serious about the request.

Before Vanessa could reply, the dragon threw back its head, its throat moving rapidly with the motion. Roaring in the duo's direction, boulder sized pieces of ice escaped from its throat and decorated the arena. Charlie and Vanessa split up, running frantically from the chunks of ice. Vanessa rolled her eyes in disbelief, already knowing where her footsteps would guide her. "Why oh why couldn't you just breathe fire like normal dragons?"

Already up to the dragon's kneecaps, she let her sword swing, striking the mighty creature hard. To her astonishment, the creature faltered in its speedy step and fell hard to its knees. She stared for a moment in disbelief before the echoing sound of Charlie's back-up fire snapped her into action. She swung her sword again, hacking repeatedly to the dazed dragon with her brows furrowed in thought. _Knights in shining armor make this seem so damn hard. Wonder why…?_

As if on queue, the dragon regained its sense on reality, its vicious eyes focused on its bold prey. It beat its wings heavily, sending the two fighters in opposite directions with a mere gust of wind. Hovering in the sky as it watched the two beings recover; the dragon suddenly broke off into an impossibly fast spin, pelting the arena with chunks of ice.

_Oh hell…! _Vanessa rolled out of the way of the first icy boulder, immediately getting to her feet to begin the evasion game. Annoyed at almost being beheaded by a sharp shard of ice, she growled while navigating around the area. "This!" Jump. "Is!" Dodge. "A." Dive. "Load…!" Leap. "Of!" Step back. "Bull-" Before Vanessa could get the last words out, her high heels finally led to her downfall. Slipping backwards on the somewhat icy ground, the huntress fell hard to the floor. "Owies…"

Vanessa didn't have to dwell too long on her pained backside, or rather, she couldn't. Her hazel eyes were glued to the dragon that had landed feet away. Feeling the earth tremor while the dragon greedily marched towards her, Vanessa scrambled backwards over the ground. Almost confident she could stand up and run, she felt her left hand swipe at air. The huntress risked a glance back, noting only the coldest of water behind her. From the side of her eyes, she spotted Charlie beginning to head her way. _Hmm…he can't get a shot…_ She turned her eyes back to the dragon, the beast's open mouth indicating its intentions. _And here I didn't even get to meet Spokey Dokey…._

The dragon bobbed its head forward, a huge circular fiery explosion erupting over its body making the beast stop short. The dragon roared and arched its back, maniacal laughter in the background close to drowning out the wail of the dragon. Along with the diabolical cackle of glee, came an overly ebullient voice. "Yes, yes, I got it!!!!!!" shouted the happy-go-lucky force. The female didn't give the Sil Dragon a chance to react and with a graceful lift of her hand, sent two more nuke like explosions into the creature. The beast emitted an earsplitting roar in her direction, the icebergs bobbing carefree in the distance close to shattering from the sound. The female, the force, Isale, gave off a devilishly elated smile. "Vaminay…" Isale motioned for the dragon to come. She smirked, the dragon entering the atmosphere before finally plummeting into the ground, _beneath_ the ground.

Vanessa shook her head at her luck while jogging up to Isale. _Of all the people to save my ass…_ She skidded to a stop in front of the girl and shook snow out her hair. Glancing to the force from the corner of her eye, she asked. "So about those nukes…what the hell?"

"What the hells a nuke?" Isale arched a brow, her eyes scrutinizing the female before her.

"What are you doing here…?" Charlie spun Isale around, a grateful gleam in his eyes.

"Well…I'm not slow. But you two combined reach a new level of the word "slow"…" Feeling the grip on her shoulders tighten exponentially, Isale laughed. "I don't mean it…" She relaxed herself, smiling carefully. "I figured you two would need my help. Plus..." Her eyes wandered over to Vanessa, a smug smile gracing her lips. "…I want something."

Feeling uncomfortably from the brief look Isale had given her, Vanessa hid her paranoia under narrowed eyes. She said cautiously. "…something…?"

"Later on that, this fight isn't over!" Charlie shoved Vanessa several feet, propelling himself backwards a mere seconds later as the dragon burrowed underground in their direction. Isale performed a simple side-step to avoid the beast, the force annoyed from the ongoing battle and her unanswered question.

Managing to recover from the sudden push, Vanessa dashed out of the way of the dragon heading towards her a second time. Feeling a glare coming from her side, Vanessa turned to Isale. "What?"

"Why don't we just use you as bait? Give you a purpose other than being useless…" muttered Isale bitterly in disdain.

Vanessa broke into a deranged smile as she felt her cheeks begin to heat up. Her heart beating hard in her anger, try as she might, she gave in on being polite. She normally restrained herself from cursing around people she barely knew but Isale would be the exception. Up to the force, Vanessa sneered. "Why don't you go fu-"

The crashing of ice behind the two females interrupted Vanessa's question and Isale's prepared response. Vanessa and Isale glanced at each other and gulped in unison. Swearing beneath their lips, they turned around horrorstruck to find the dragon behind them. The two girls broke off into a mad spiral run in the hopes of it going off course but to their horror, found the dragon steady on their path.

Pumping her arms as hard as possible, Vanessa closed her eyes and shouted over the ruckus of the dragon. "Take it back!!" Seeing Isale express only confusion and fright, she elaborated. "Take back the useless comment!!"

In disbelief the girl even had time to bring it up, Isale shook her head stubbornly. "Go to hell!"

"Take it back or I'll trip you…!" Vanessa pulled out her red sword, moving it in front of the running path of Isale. She knew it was a completely suicidal gesture but if she were to die, she wanted to die at _least_ content Isale went down with her.

"You're crazy, move your sword!!" Isale's grip increased over her psycho wand, the force struggling with not running too fast and running fast enough. Seeing the sword grow closer to her legs, she pulled her hair, out of breath and frustrated. "Crazy humarl street whore! You win! I take it back! Move the sword! Move your swo-" A quick yank pulled her, along with Vanessa out of the path of the dragon. She looked up to see a chuckling Charlie. Shaking him off of her, she exhaled. "Assholes…"

Charlie pounded his fists playfully into both of their scalps. "Oh my little geniuses…" he sighed with a smile. "The dragon's tunneling in a spiral and you BOTH run IN a spiral…!" He started to laugh, his humor dying down as the dragon burst through the center of the ice arena.

The three comrades glanced at each with a mischievous look in each eye. All three finally smiled before scattering off in different directions. Only Isale stayed in place, the force licking her lips as she watched the dragon go airborne. She raised both her hands in the air and a single fume of fire rushed to the flying dragon. On impact, Isale spread her arms, the fireball overtaking the evening sky in a hellish inferno. "Mwahahahahaha…!!!" she laughed insanely pleased from her flame creation as the dragon dived back to earth. "Vanessa!!"

Already running to the descending dragon, the female huntress smiled broadly at the fact it was her turn. Vanessa jumped aside, slipping wildly to avoid the angry lunge from the Sil dragon. Licking a mini-fang, she skidded beneath a wing of the dragon, and brought her sword back. "B-YAH!!" She struck the dragon's kneecaps, coming to a sliding stop as the dragon tumbled down behind her. Laughing from her horrible imitation, Vanessa turned her focus to her last comrade.

"Alley-oop!" Charlie leapt onto the back of the dragon, the creature coming out of its daze instantly from the move. Struggling to maintain his balance on the back of the serpentine monster, he scrambled to the head of the creature, his rifle out and ready. Feeling the dragon throw its head back, he pressed his rifle to the Sil Dragon's temple and pulled the trigger. Knowing he'd get thrown off, Charlie jumped off before hand and eyed the dragon warily, an anxious hand on his still smoking rifle. The yellowish eyes of the dragon rolled upwards, the mighty creature letting its final roar escape. It tumbled in step over the slippery surface of the ice and tumbled down dead in its lair.

"Okay, Legolas…." Vanessa smirked, shaking her head at Charlie's expression of bemusement. Despite being exhausted, Vanessa found the energy to dance in place. She let her hands fall while doing her spirit fingers, snapped her fingers, then cleared her arms out with a final cheerful snap. "Whew!" She plopped down to the ground with an ebullient smile, her hazel eyes on the night sky. "We did it…at last!" Rubbing her stomach and looking up to Charlie, Vanessa smiled. "Let's get outta here. I desireth a mealeth after all the worketh…" She grabbed his hand and let him tug her back onto her feet. Keeping a carefree hold on his hand, Vanessa started to walk with Charlie to the teleporter that mysteriously appeared after battle. Seeing a fireball burst inches from her feet, both Charlie and Vanessa jumped back.

"Ahem!" Isale coughed to the side and looked over her fingers with a bored expression. "I did not come here for my health you know…" she smiled, her blue eyes practically glowing with the gesture.

"Oh yeah…" Vanessa snapped her fingers and released Charlie's hand. Tilting her head, she took a deep breath. She said. "Isale…at first I thought you were just arrogant and it was compensation for your height. As a matter of fact, I STILL think you're arrogant but…you know, it's just the way you are. But…" Glancing aside, she shrugged. "I must admit, you're stronger than I thought. And…we all work fairly well with each other so if/when you're prices lower, we should try the jolly-go-lucky "team" thing," Grinned Vanessa. She nervously scratched the back of her scalp. "And…sorry about the comment on your outfit."

Isale waved off the apology, tickled by the fact she found the huntress's words amusing. "That doesn't matter anymore but like I said when I first arrived here, I want something. Or to be exact…" Isale sauntered up to Vanessa. Grabbing her face, she stared up into Vanessa's eyes. "I want you."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Vanessa and Charlie in unison.

"Did I stutter?" Isale narrowed her eyes. She pulled her fingers through Vanessa's wild and somewhat damp mane. "I want you. I just want to do a little experimenting is all…" She gave an eerie smile, still playing about through Vanessa's hair.

_Metrosexuals…etc sexuals…dragons...it's like being on Absinthe in the village on Halloween, god damn! _"Uhm…" Vanessa felt her cheeks flush violently, she unsure how to respond to Isale's request. She glanced for help to Charlie but found him holding a similar expression. Widening her eyes and almost tempted to mouth the words "help me" she instead mouthed "idiot-jerk" at seeing him turn around and whistle. Returning her attention on Isale, Vanessa moved Isale's hands from her hair. "Right…okay…Isale…while I'm flattered and all, I'm not…_that_ way at all. But if…you know, you're playing both sides of the field, I'm sure Charlie could be of the BEST assistance. Or better yet, he can cover the meseta fee…?" Vanessa shrugged, letting go of Isale's wrists.

Isale screwed up her face and tapped her nose. "Noo…noo…" She shook her head. "I think you've misunderstood me. I don't WANT want you. I just need your hair for an experiment. And even if I DID want you, you should be honored by the idea. I could treat you better than ALL the men on Pioneer 1 and 2 _combined. _But I digress…" Isale smiled with a hint of haughtiness. "Perhaps I should've been specific from the beginning?"

"Perhaps so, smug ass…." muttered Charlie. Until that moment, his sole focus had been on tending to his gun. He lifted his gaze from the weapon, emerald eyes now staring at Isale.

"I'm sorry, _Charlie_ was not being addressed. Why the hell do you care?!" snapped Isale.

Rolling his eyes, Charlie threw his last words over his shoulder. "I don't." He holstered his gun, moving casually onto the teleporter.

_Ay dios mio…_ Vanessa slapped her palm to her forehead and closed her eyes. _At least she doesn't only start nonsense with me._ Opening her eyes, Vanessa shouted to Charlie. "Charlie, waita-"

"Ignore him for the moment. Can I use your hair or not?" inquired Isale, her fingers practically digging into Vanessa's arm.

"Yeah, sure," Vanessa pulled her arm away, not seeing the big deal with the issue. "I don't care but it's under a condition. If I let you do whatever, you'll work with us…free of charge?"

Isale twitched from the last three words spouted by the Huntress. She grinded her teeth, her head hurting from the concept of not making a profit. Growling, she said. "Fine. I will. Free of charge."

"Good. Now come on, we have to catch up with Charlie…!" Vanessa holstered her red sword properly to her hip and knew if she didn't catch up with the ranger, she'd have to have Isale be her guide around Pioneer 2. _Hell…no._ Hastily, she ran to the teleporter and transported to the ship hovering above the planet.

"Like I'd waste my time…" muttered Isale. She resisted the temptation to laugh from the very idea. Instead, she stuck out her hand in concentration and created a swirling mass of twisting green light. Stepping inside, the force disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the corpse of the Silver dragon, an aurora borealis, and the chill arctic winds…


	12. Isa's experiment

"Charlie!!" Vanessa shouted to the back of Charlie. She was out of breath from running around Pioneer 2 in search of him. She dubbed it luck she managed to even find him at the bank. Exhaling in relief, she tapped his shoulder. "…why didn't you wait for me? God knows I don't know my way around here…" Noticing him falter, Vanessa began to grip his shoulder. She made a face as he eased away from her hand. "Charlie-?"

"I realized something Vanessa…" he interrupted. He shrugged with his back still turned, his voice sounding indifferent, almost cold. "I realized I'm not making a profit from this, we barely scraped our way through the forest, and as soon this mission is over with, we'll be the equivalent of strangers to each other. Nothing there, end of story. I'm just helping you get home-"

"Where are you going with this?" cut off Vanessa. She lowered her arm away from him, stunned by the aloofness from the Ranger. Nibbling on her lower lip, she hesitantly peered over his shoulder, a mixture of emotions swirling through her-- mainly bemusement and to her annoyance, another feeling. _It's not that serious, Vanessa, push it away-_

"The THING is…or the answer to your question," Charlie turned around and stared down to her, the emotion in his eyes ineffable. "I don't care. I don't care and neither should you…" he turned his gaze aside after the harsh statement and began to walk down the metallic path.

_Wow…_ Vanessa wasn't sure how to react or if she should even react at all. She stared to his back taken aback by the sharp words and wondering what she'd done to provoke them. Her heart skipping a beat and her face beginning to fall, she started rubbing her cheeks. As a personal rule, Vanessa tried not to allow anybody to see her distressed…not more than once anyways. Sighing, she forced a casual façade. "Well, the sooner we reach the depths of Ragol, the sooner I'm outta your hair. We can still venture together as strangers though, right?" Vanessa walked tepidly behind him, her hands behind her back.

"Certainly…" He swung his hands behind his messy dark green hair. "I'm not too sure my life is worth your ass but I'm always up for an adventure. Speaking of which, did you agree to _that_ girl's request?" Noticing an unsettlingly long pause after his question, Charlie stopped in step. He closed his eyes and with the utmost reluctance faced Vanessa.

Gulping, Vanessa kept on a steely expression. She crossed her arms over her chest and quirked a brow. "You don't care and that's fine with me but at least look me in the eye and not care. Or lie to my face instead of making me talk to your back…!" shouted Vanessa. Feeling her eyes began to gloss over; she clenched a fist and turned her gaze to the glass ceiling. _Stupid-idiot-jerk…God help **him**__ if I cry…_

Noticing Vanessa seem to fight back tears, Charlie closed his eyes and fought the temptation to turn away. He exhaled heavily and cursed himself inwardly for being unable to keep up the front. "It's not that simple. Vanessa-," His communicator cut him short, ringing loud and clear in the emptying pathway. Closing his eyes, he sighed in annoyance. "Did you agree to Isa's request?"

"Yeah…" murmured Vanessa. She kept her eyes to the ceiling a little longer, waiting for them to dry completely. "…why?" Satisfied, she lowered her gaze to the Ranger.

"Trust me, it's for you." With a trace amount of disgust on his face, Charlie tossed the communicator to Vanessa.

Barely managing to catch the communicator, Vanessa almost wished she dropped the contraption. It had been ringing a little over a minute for no reason Vanessa could understand. Flipping open the screen, she found herself seemingly face to face with none other than Isale. "The hell…?"

"Hello? Vannie? Vanessa? Lovely! Are you coming or not? Time is progress…" smiled Isale.

Vanessa blinked dully to the screen. "Did I not just see you less than five minutes ago?"

"While that may be so…" With her eyes closed, Isale nodded in agreement. She opened up a sharp blue eye and cocked her brow. "While that may be so...the sooner I'm done with this little experiment, the sooner we'll be down on Ragol. Right? You know I'm right. I'm in the Purplenum section of town…"

"But where's the-" Before she could get out her inquiry, Isale had already hung up on her. Annoyed she had no idea where to go, Vanessa threw her head back and put the Communicator in a death grip. "Coño diablo…"

"…I'll take you to Isale's house…" murmured Charlie. He kept his eyes aside and shrugged. "I'll pick you up 160 beats later…" He motioned for Vanessa to follow him as he began to walk.

"Sure…" said Vanessa skeptically. Crossing her arms, she followed after Charlie in wonder what Isale had in store for her…

------------------------------------

"Ow! Why me?!" yelped Vanessa. She held onto the roots of her hair as Isale tugged at her hair with a sharp toothed white comb. Feeling herself begin to tear up, she looked up to Isale. "That wasn't a rhetorical question, why-"

"Quit your whining!" Isale tugged harder in response as she attempted to untangle Vanessa's wild mane of dark hair.

_Puta…_ Trying not to curse Isale out loud, Vanessa said. "No…you misunderstood." she winced. "Out of all the people on Pioneer 2, why did you want to use MY hair?"

"Oh." Isale stopped combing Vanessa's hair and smiled down to the huntress endearingly. "Isn't that obvious, hazel eyes? Sadly, nobody else on Pioneer 2 has hair quite as thick and soft as yours…and what a texture…. The few people that do…well let's just say it's about as real as the idea of us one day coexisting with the Boomas and Grass Assassins of Ragol."

"Huh…" Vanessa stroked her chin. Looking upwards to Isale, she said. "You have quite the cynical view there…and what the hells a grass assassin? How do you assassinate grass?" Vanessa blinked and knew her question sounded retarded but the name seemed too random.

"Not literally…" tugged Isale once more. Smiling over the fact she caused Vanessa to tear up, she rested her chin on the shoulder of the sitting Huntress. "And truth be told, I'd rather be pessimistic about the truth then optimistic about a lie. Think about that, eh?" Isale winked playfully. "But yeah…getting off that topic, in order to see if my product works, I need your hair. All that's to it."

"What does your product do?"

"Well, it manages to flatten the follicle and alter the original texture of certain hair, making it so for at least 365 ages the follicle remains unaltered from any outside effects…" Noticing the blank look received after her explanation, Isale said flatly. "It makes your hair straight. At least that's what it SHOULD do. I've never actually tested it out before…" Isale held out a glass vial of bubbling clear liquid and a yellow brush. "Now please be still…and this –might- burn a little…"

"It can't be as bad as a relaxer…" shrugged Vanessa as Isale applied the liquid. Five minutes into the process and Vanessa realized she'd been right with her comment. It wasn't as bad a relaxer. The pain didn't even compare; the mysterious liquid felt ten times worse. It felt as if someone had set her head on fire and as a cruel joke, doused her hair in sulphuric acid to extinguish the flames.

"Isale, please…take this stuff out my hair…" whispered Vanessa weakly.

Sitting down across from Vanessa, Isale looked up from her nails with the utmost nonchalance. "Oh I will…after 18 beats. Until then, relax. And please, call me Isa."

"HOW THE FU-" Vanessa slapped her hands over her face and resisted the temptation to kill the calm force. Letting out a heavy breath, she pointed to her head. "How can I relax with this stuff in my hair?!"

Isale looked at her carefree. "Well, let's talk about some things on my mind! You didn't know where the purplenum section is nor did you know what my psycho wand was. From what I've observed, techniques surprise you as do the outfits certain classes are designated to wear. And you described "rafoie" as a nuke. What is that by the way? Where are you from?"

"A nuke rafoie. I mean, they **look **the same but a nuke is dangerous, radiation, ability to end a crazy amount of lives by mixing atoms…" Vanessa trailed off when she realized Isale seemed a little _too _fascinated on the creation of a nuclear weapon. Clearing her throat, Vanessa took a breath and told her farfetched tale to Isale. After the telling of her tale, she noticed Isale looked fascinated.

"Interesting, interesting, interesting! If I were in your position, I wouldn't know just what to do. Good thing for…" Isale paused and snickered. "_Charlie…_or you might still be getting poked at by rappies."

"Yeah but ever since we beat the Sil Dragon he's been acting like a real dick…" Closing her eyes in slight embarrassment from the slip of her tongue, Vanessa mumbled. "Excuse my French, but he's been acting colder than the Arctic we just got out of."

Isale smirked, her blue eyes sparkling magnificently from the news. "Is that so…? Well he's not mad at you! He's just bothered because of the way it sounded when I said I wanted you…" She snickered. "For a moment, he thought he had competition-though in truth it would be no contest, I mean, **really**. Him…over me? Not likely…but ON point!!! He'd never admit it so he puts on a front pretending as if he doesn't care. You wanna know why? Because he's a guy…" Isale shook her head as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"You really thinks so…you make it sound as if he cares…" mused Vanessa.

Isale got up from her seat and walked over to Vanessa. Leaning down, she whispered into her ear. "Do you want him to?"

Surprised by the question, Vanessa perked a brow and maintained an indifferent state. "Did anyone ever tell you just how creepy that is…?"

"I love how you evaded the question."

"Like the answer matters…" Vanessa gave a small smile and found herself becoming somewhat amused by Isale. Giving puppy dog eyes, Vanessa faced Isale. "What's his real name? Charlie can't be it…"

"Heh…" Isale smiled when just at that moment her communicator or her m-com chose to ring. She pulled Vanessa out of her seat. "Come on, Vannie! Time to wash that stuff out of your hair!"

------------------------------------------

"My God…what have you done to my hair?" exclaimed Vanessa while she goggled in the mirror. After Isale washed the serum out of her hair she had placed Vanessa under a metallic cube. Within thirty minutes her hair had dried and the results were shocking. She felt as if it were no longer her hair. "I look like a frickin' anime chick! You know, sans the wild colors and extra big eyes but geeze! I mean, it's not bad but…" Vanessa pulled her fingers through her hair. "Thanks? I'm going to kill you? I don't know…"

"I'll take your thanks and for the second comment I'd like to see you try. But wow…I can't believe it actually worked!" Isale mumbled quietly to the side. "…with no side effects. But anyways!" She raised her voice to normal levels. "We still have around 100 beats to kill. Let's go eat before curfew starts!"

"Yeah, King told me about that!" Vanessa instantly cringed after the words left her lips. She hadn't meant anything about King to slip to Isale or Charlie as she figured the android was a sketchy character.

Isale paused in putting on a white pump boot when she heard the name. She narrowed her eyes briefly, closed them, and stood up straight. When she opened them, her shimmering blue eyes were automatically turned to Vanessa. "King? Tall…approximately six heads to be precise, gold, luminous, an android. _That_ King?" asked Isale emotionless.

Taken by surprise from the description of her friend of sorts, Vanessa nodded nervously. "Uh…yeah. THAT King…" Scratching the back of her strangely smooth hair, she bit her lip as she felt her overly curious nature start to get the best of her. "What does he do?" asked Vanessa.

Isale burst into a surprisingly gigantic laugh that erupted throughout her small apartment. She slapped Vanessa on the back with a toothy smile over her face. "I'll tell you some other time. Right now, I'm starved! Let's go!"

_Evasive little…_ Annoyed at how her inquiries were once again ignored, Vanessa frowned but allowed Isale to drag her out of the house and down the path to a violet chrome and dome shaped building. Inside the building were circular pink and purple tables and accompanying the tables were marble square seats.

Vanessa begrudgingly took a seat while Isale ordered them a meal. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. People on Earth had their flaws, sure, but the people on Pioneer 2 were on an entire new level. Everything was secretive, even a name! _Murphy o' Meyer…_ Shaking her head, Vanessa screwed up her face upon noticing the meal placed on the table. It looked like a huge charred black and blue ham. Widening her eyes to Isale who had just sat across from her, Vanessa poked at the meal with her pinky. "What's…what is this?"

Isale ripped off a mighty portion of the off-colored meat and smiled. "It's good," She took a bite and smiled.

Perking her brow from receiving no answer to her question, Vanessa closed her eyes. "But what is it?"

"Who cares?"

"Oh my-, what the HELL is this?!" shouted Vanessa in frustration.

Isale stopped eating mid forkful and glared harshly at Vanessa. "It is thigh of Hildebear. It holds a nice peppery flavor because of the smoked process of making it. Pricier than Hidelt but far more flavorful…now eat!" ordered Isale.

"No…" drawled out Vanessa, her eyes narrowed. She glanced inside to avoid looking at the food but unfortunately, she couldn't ignore the aroma of the foreign meat. She rolled her eyes upward and cursed her greediness. _Grrrrr…!_ Staring back to the food, she took a hefty portion of the meat and began devouring the zesty meal. Seeing Isale about to speak, Vanessa spoke first. "Shut up!"

Isale offered a devious smile. "I'd never say a thing…" She gained a smug expression and finished up her portion of the meal.

After thirty minutes passing, Vanessa finished up her half of the huge meal. She leaned back in her seat and rubbed her stomach in the most content she'd been in for days. Letting a small meow escape, she finally spoke. "That was lovely! But…" She sat up and rested her elbows on the table. "Is there anything sweet around here…? I would kill for chocolate…or a pack of skittles at least."

Isale stood up and motioned her head in the direction of the exit. "Vaminay…" Noting the blank look received by her word, she smirked. "Come." She waited for Vanessa to get up before starting to speak. "There's a rumor going around Pioneer 2. Down on Ragol, beneath the forests, in the caves…dwells these three girls. They go by the name "The Cake Sisters". They bake only in the caves because it has the _perfect_ atmosphere. I don't know why they don't consider…oh, a kitchen? But that's me," Isale shrugged and swiped a flat diamond card through a scanner by the exit. "Anyway, considering tomorrow we're going to the caves, maybe you'll be able to buy a cake off of them?"

Vanessa ran her hands through her hair in disbelief. "Ay dios mio…" She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "So let me get this straight. There are NO sweets on Pioneer 2? At All? And in order to find sweets I have to enter into a cave for a dirt covered cake…?"

"Several caves…" corrected Isale sweetly.

"Holy bloody hell…!" Vanessa furrowed her brows at the thought of fighting for a piece of cake. She'd always had a sweet tooth and now was no exception. She stomped her feet and held back a minor wave of profanity. "No sweets…what was I thinking? I should've risked the exam!" Vanessa sighed and dragged her feet behind Isale miserable over the fact.

The pair of girls soon reached Isale's house. Vanessa walked through the purple and pink hallway of Isa's house and dropped herself onto the velvet sofa in the living room. Lying across the sofa and letting her legs hang over the edge, she whistled. "Now what…?" She briefly stared to the crystal lights covering the ceiling before turning her attention onto Isale. "What's gibarta…better yet, what's a technique? And what did you mean by "with him"?" Vanessa knew the question was a day old but she wanted to confirm her suspicion.

Isale sat across from her with a bored expression. She rested her elbows on her knees and quirked a brow. "You're not stupid, Vanessa. I'd like to think so. You know what I meant. But to get into the wonderful world of techniques…!" Isale began to elaborate on the multiple techniques and restrictions on each one.

An hour into Isale's explanation a loud ringing burst through Isale's small apartment. Vanessa sprung up from the sofa and twisted awkwardly to her feet. "I'll get it!" She skipped to the doorway curious what one would need Anti for. _It's not like you can get poisoned by Rappies. Then again, there IS shock. _She opened the metallic violet door absentmindedly and found Charlie waiting by the doorstep. Surprised he'd even come back after his earlier attitude, she gulped, unsure what to expect from him.

Apparently, Charlie was just as surprised as Vanessa. He perked both brows and whispered in a barely audible tone. "Belleshan…"

Feeling no sense of recognition over the strange word, Vanessa shook her head in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing."

Vanessa began to comment on "nothing" but stopped short from a slap to her back and a tug to her hair. Isale put Vanessa's hair on display and smiled broadly to Charlie. "Hey Charlie! Didn't I do a brilliant job with her hair? I wasn't sure then but I'm confident now, this serum is going to make me RICH! I'm gonna be rolling in more meseta than I normally do! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! So…when are we going back to Ragol…?" Isale released Vanessa's hair and stared to Charlie with a glint in her eye.

Charlie blinked momentarily towards Isale. Opening his mouth, he paused, but thought better of his original words. He said. "Yeah…about that. I was thinking that Vanessa could stay overnight with you. That way, I can just pick you both up in the morning. Take care." Before any "goodbyes" could be said, he hastily made his way away from the house, leaving a very much intrigued Isale and a bemused yet indifferent Vanessa to their thoughts…


	13. Companions of the Night

_It's 4:00 am, I'm beyond the point of physically exhausted…why can't I fall asleep…? _Thought Vanessa, her eyes practically glued to her stainless steel watch. She tossed and turned on the incredibly soft pullout bed provided to her by Isale but no new position helped her predicament. A side thought came when her eyes landed on the door. _Is it because of Charlie…nah, can't be him. _ She tossed aside the contemplation as she suddenly remembered. Not only was her m-com back at her house but also something of importance she had brought from earth.

_So how is this going to work…? _ Vanessa quietly rolled out of bed and landed onto the carpeted floor. Slipping out of the long shirt given to her by Isale, she put on her Huntress outfit and matching heels. _Perfect. _Fixing her hair into a braid, she started for the door but merely inches away a light was flicked on.

Isale yawned loudly with her gaze to the floor. "Just where do you think you're going?" she asked half-asleep.

_The hell?_ Vanessa whipped around in disbelief. "How did you hear? I did the stealthy thing near perfect…!" exclaimed Vanessa.

Isale narrowed her eyes in her grouchiness. "Your stealth means nothing. These pointy things attached to the side of my head aren't just for decoration. I have very sensitive hearing." She relaxed her somewhat demonic expression and cocked her head. "Where are you heading at this time of night anyways? Curfew's not over for another 80 beats or so."

"I'm heading back to my house," shrugged Vanessa. "I need to pick up something. I can't wait until morning because by then I'll be wasting our time. Might as well do it now. Oh and as for curfew…I don't really give a damn about that." She smirked at her final words and started to wonder if Pioneer 2 was slowly corrupting her goody-two shoes mindset.

"I'll come with." Isale knocked open a closet and threw on a black silk robe. "Let's go," She headed in front of Vanessa and opened the door. "You probably would have gotten lost looking for your house."

"Hmm, probably," Admitted Vanessa, arms behind her back as she followed Isale through Pioneer 2.

The two girls silently walked the metallic streets of Pioneer 2, their footsteps echoing, bouncing off identical deep azure houses and shooting off towards the distant glass ceiling. Vanessa glanced back every so often, her paranoia increasing the closer she got to her home. She couldn't shake the feeling…the same feeling she felt in the forest, the same glare drilling into the back of her skull. _What the hell…? _ Losing the thought, Vanessa turned back bewildered. The feeling disappeared completely, as if it were never there. _I'm going nuts…_

"We're here!" declared Isale in an excited whisper. She stood in front of a pale green house with Vanessa and shrugged. "Least I think so. This IS your house, right?" Seeing Vanessa nod slowly she lightly clapped. "Good. Hurry up. I'll watch for any militia patrolling."

"Thanks." Surprised from the Force's nice behavior, Vanessa gave a quirky smile and tiptoed into her house. Once inside, she wasted no time and began tearing the little house apart in search of her m-com but it was to no avail. She silently screamed to her ceiling in exasperation she'd lost the thing so quickly. _Are you serious?_ Feeling the tiredness finally begin to weigh in on her, she threw herself onto her bed and yelped immediately after the action. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Massaging her hip bone, Vanessa moved the object she'd landed on from beneath her and found it to be her m-com. "Huh. How's that for unlucky?" She tucked the device in her back pocket and rolled off her bed.

_Now for my uniform… _Vanessa looked over the upper pockets of her white school shirt and in the second pocket found the object of her desire. It was a silver cross roughly three inches in size and connected to a silver chain. She wasn't the most religious person in the world but she had faith. She figured that counted for something. "Maybe so, maybe not…" Vanessa put the cross around her neck and ran outside the house to Isale. "Time we head ba…" She stopped talking and made note the Force was nowhere in sight. _That…!_

Deciding to give Isale the benefit of the doubt, Vanessa figured security had strolled pass and Isale scrambled back to her house. _Right…_ Vanessa was willing to accept this possibility but the problem was she had no clear idea how to get back to the Purplenum section. With a sigh, she walked through her section of pale green houses into a section of evergreen houses and then to an endless row of white. _I'm drawn to the Whitill section every other night…freaky. _Automatically, she moved towards Charlie's house and peeked into his window. Vanessa tilted her head at his sleeping form and felt herself frown. _…what did I do?_

Turning her gaze away from the window, Vanessa silently marched away from his house. "Not a damn thing…" She hated the fact that his behavior bothered her to the point where she questioned herself. _Leave it be…_ Moving from the row of white houses, Vanessa stumbled onto numerous yellow houses, some of them bordering on gold. She stopped walking when she noticed a familiar figure peering through the window of one of the golden homes. _Oh hell no…_ Increasing her pace, Vanessa crept up behind Isale and grabbed her shoulders. "You ditched me to look through some guy's window?"

Isale jumped two feet in the air from the sudden disturbance. She turned around halfway. "Shhhhhh! Don't do that!" Isale hissed. Hardly apologetic over her actions, Isale returned her view to the window and sighed. "Guess he's not home."

"Who? What are-, who the hell are you spying on?" hissed Vanessa incredulously.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing out at this time?" shouted a voice. The two girls immediately whipped around to see a security officer staring them down.

Vanessa nibbled on her lower lip. She whispered to Isale. "Plans?"

Isale grabbed onto Vanessa and brought her close. She smiled in the security guard's direction and spoke through her teeth. "Split up and run. Meet me back at my house. GO!" Isale pushed Vanessa to the left as she began to dash to the right.

Closing her eyes, Vanessa pushed herself to run as fast as she could summon. She breezed past several sections and turned down a few alleyways, only bringing herself to a slow when she no longer heard footsteps behind her. _Thank God. _Vanessa stopped and caught her breath. Exhaling heavily, she started to break off into a light run when a fierce yank pulled her into a shadowed alleyway. Before she could scream, a pale hand covered her mouth tightly. She squirmed violently in the stranger's hold but after a few seconds stopped moving completely at seeing the security guard stealthily creep pass the alleyway. _Sneaky bastard…_

The stranger loosened his vice grip over Vanessa's arm but not over her mouth. He whispered into her ear. "Promise not to scream. Don't worry; I don't intend to hurt you." Seeing her nod slowly, he reluctantly removed his hand from her mouth.

Vanessa sighed and moved her eyes to the hand still on her arm. "Back where I'm from guys don't wait in dark alleyways just to **not** hurt people…"

"And where are you from…?" The stranger turned Vanessa around and lightly pushed her forward.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and tried to maintain a cool demeanor as the stranger made her walk. "Like it matters…like you care…"

"I don't care you're from Earth but I guarantee you it does matter." Seeing Vanessa freeze in step, he smiled to himself. Instinctively, he increased his hold on her arm and brought her close. "Don't think to run; it's too late for that. Just walk."

Growing anxious from the knowledgeable stranger, Vanessa wondered if she should've screamed after all. She smiled nervously. "Lovely, it seems I have a stalker." She closed her eyes from a sudden yank to the right from the man.

"Don't flatter yourself, I just have my resources."

"Oh, so _other_ stalkers on Pioneer 2 do work for you. THAT makes sense," Tearing up from the tightened grip on her arm, she made a face from another observation. "Hey, while I understand you have the advantage here…" She grabbed the right hand on her waist with her free hand. "…if your hand moves any lower, I swear I'll rip the damn thing off."

The stranger almost laughed from her words. He twisted his hand away from hers and smiled at her gall. "Bold words considering circumstances."

"Indeed…" agreed Vanessa with a trace of a smile. For some implausible reason she no longer felt frightened by the stranger. Cautious, certainly, but hardly scared. "I need _some _control in this situation-"

"I think you're just trying to delay what you _think_ is inevitable," cut off the stranger.

"What _is_ the inevitable?" Vanessa stopped walking and refused to move forward.

"Honestly?" Seeing her nod slowly he smiled. "I slit your throat in this alleyway but then I'd have to worry about the high blood content and blood in my hair. I hate that."

_Holy…!_ Widening her eyes from the statement, Vanessa shuddered subconsciously. "Now lie to me."

Thinking, after a minute, he said. "Killing you is in sharp contradiction to my agenda."

"What's your agenda…?" inquired Vanessa tepidly.

Bringing Vanessa close once more, he lost his smile completely. He angled her head so his lips were to her ear and kept her in the position by placing a blade to her throat. Holding onto her tightly with his right hand, he breathed into her ear. "_Lo alegridium vordi mos millia. _Nothing more." He held back a laugh from her bewildered expression and kindly motioned her head forward. "Your destination…."

The knife still to her throat and his other hand beginning to bother her, Vanessa whined slightly. She turned her eyes away from the starry ceiling and looked ahead to see a vast row of violet houses. "…let me go. Or at least move that damn knife from my throat."

He thought about her requests and complied with the former. Dancing the knife around her neck, he said. "You _can _make it from here, no? I suggest you hurry…and don't look back."

Arching a brow, Vanessa stared forward with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Killing me isn't part of your agenda…and you said you wouldn't hurt me."

"You told me to lie to you and that's what I did. And if you look back…" He pressed the edge of the knife dangerously close to her throat. Growling into her ear, he said. "…I just might have to. Now go!" He moved the knife from her throat and pushed her out of the darkness of the alleyway. Sheathing his blade as he watched her go, he knew she'd turn around. From what he'd observed on Ragol and on Pioneer 2, she was the curious type. _Rather silly…but curious._ Quietly, he turned around and sank back into the shadows, confident they'd meet again.

Vanessa clenched her fists tightly and muttered the name "Orpheus" repeatedly as she escaped from the alleyway. She said the name as a reminder to the consequences of allowing her curiosity to overwhelm her. _Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it…!_ Cursing herself, she turned her head slightly in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the eerie stranger. To her dismay, she saw nobody. She stopped and made a wry face. "Damn…"

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you do anything?" shouted Isale.

When Vanessa finally arrived at Isale's house, she found Isale had gotten there before her. Isale wondered how Vanessa hadn't gotten completely lost so Vanessa told her about a majority of the confrontation with the stranger in the alleyway. In return, Isale had gone berserk.

Rolling her eyes from Isale's shouting, Vanessa spoke calmly. "I was thinking if he had wanted to hurt me, I'd be decorating the alleyway by now and chopped into little pieces. I didn't do anything because…" She chewed lightly on her bottom lip and searched for anything but the truth. No good lie coming into mind, Vanessa said weakly. "…I wasn't scared. I mean, I _know_ he was threatening my life, but…I knew he wasn't going to harm me…"

Isale was fuming. "There are worse things than death and he could've harmed you other than physically. This guy could've raped you and left you for dead! Have some sense!" She tapped Vanessa in the forehead with her last three words. Going off in what sounded to be gibberish, she concluded with, "I knew we shouldn't have went out-"

"Well maybe if you didn't ditch me to gawk through some guy's window I wouldn't have been in that predicament in the first place!" pointed out Vanessa bitterly.

Isale didn't say anything but instead glared hotly to Vanessa. Her cheeks flushed multiple shades of red and she closed her eyes. Letting out her breath, she walked up to Vanessa. "Okay, here's the deal," She looked Vanessa in the eyes as she spoke. "You don't mention seeing me in that particular section to Charlie…ever. And-"

"-You tell me Charlie's real name?" blinked Vanessa hopefully.

"Ahhh…no! In return, I won't mention you knowing King and the stranger in the alleyway scenario. Deal?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Deal…" She ran and leapt onto her sofa bed but paused in going beneath the sheets. She asked. "Isa…what does logridium voldemort illia mean? It's something I heard the stranger say to himself." Vanessa reckoned she was off with the "voldemort" portion but foreign languages always took her awhile to comprehend.

Isale's face turned melancholic. She looked up to the ceiling distressed. "How she managed to butcher a language in one sentence is beyond me…" Turning her focus back to the now annoyed Vanessa, she said. "Something about happy…or possibly happiness? I have no idea whatever the hell else you said though. Oh, and by the way," Isale stopped by the light switch. "This night never happened. Sweet dreams." She shut off the lights.

"Yuh huh…." Vanessa smirked to herself. Her smile soon gave way to a contemplative face. She hadn't mentioned the stranger's agenda to Isale nor did she reveal the stranger knew she was a foreigner. The last fact was unnerving but served as just another mystery on Pioneer 2. "…will we meet again? We'll see…" Perking a brow, she closed her eyes and finally drifted off.


	14. The Reason

Four hours into Vanessa's deep slumber, a low ringing made its way through the apartment. Vanessa opened an eye groggily, the bell being a contribution to her interrupted sleep. The real source of her unwilling rise into the realm of consciousness was the whining coming from Isale's room. She narrowed her sleep deprived eyes and grinded her teeth. _What…the…__**hell**__._

Isale burst forth from her room, groaning. "Ow, NO, make it stop!" She slapped her hands dramatically over her ears, walking in a zigzag to the door.

Vanessa sat up from the sofa and squinted in agitation. "It is NOT that loud." She tightened her grip over the sheets and forced herself not to be too rash from the rude awakening.

"Ears, REMEMBER?" growled Isale. She drilled her fingers into her ears and walked over to the door, each of her footsteps growing progressively louder. Once at the door, she inhaled deeply and dared to remove her fingers from ears. She let out a stream of gibberish and ripped open the door. Before Charlie could speak, the little force let out a horrendously earsplitting scream. Satisfied with Charlie's stupefied expression, she shouted impossibly loud. "That's how it feels when you RING my luvontine doorbell for MORE THAN 2 beats!" Her entire body shook in her rage. She soon sighed and motioned him inside with an angelic smile. "Please, come in."

Charlie raised an eyebrow, still unsure how to react after Isale's outburst. Finally, he began to chuckle and entered her apartment. "Only you, Isa, only you…"

Noticing Charlie enter the area, Vanessa threw the sheets over her head and considered her course of action. _Get the hell out of here…_ She rolled her eyes at her misplaced cowardice and threw the sheets upwards. _Good grief! _Shaking her hair about, she mumbled to Isale. "…taking bath. Hi. Bye. Ciao." Not looking in either one's direction, she briskly escaped to the bathroom.

Isale made a face from Vanessa's sudden exit. "Hmm…" Turning to Charlie, she motioned to the metallic black table and offered another winning smile. "Please…sit." She pulled out the chair for him and sat down after him. The two began on their plans for Ragol, Isale mainly listening as Charlie offered a few ideas for the day. She twitched, her sensitive ears finally receiving their signal; the activation of the thunderous shower by Vanessa. Isale dropped her smile and cut-off Charlie mid-sentence. "What's going on?"

Charlie's face grew blank and he trailed off. "Pertaining to…?"

Isale cocked her head towards the bathroom. "With our little world traveler of course, what's going on between you two?" Seeing Charlie had no response, Isale continued on casually. "She explained the current situation somewhat between you two and while she would honestly love to believe you were jealous that I would have my way with her, as I'm sure I would as well…" Isale cast a serious icy blue eye on Charlie. "…I seriously have my doubts, _Charlie._" She drawled out the name slowly.

"Huh...." Charlie turned his eyes to the ceiling. He smiled dangerously. "It's strange how you say my name, Isa…like it's something you can use against me." His green eyes returned to Isale with the end of his sentence. He shrugged. "I don't care…I don't care and neither should you-"

"Wha-"

"It's what I told her," Charlie closed his eyes and leaned back. "And it's the truth."

"What made you say that…?" Isale crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest, her expression indescribable.

"Are we really getting into this?"

"Humor me."

"I could really give less of a damn about what happens. What else do you want me to say?"

Isale dug her fingernails into her arms and resisted yelling at the stubborn Ranger across from her. She glanced aside and muttered. "All you need are the hazel eyes and the raven hair…I wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Charlie froze from Isale's words and his green eyes emitted an ephemeral but passionate light. He exhaled heavily, his cheeks flushed from the indirect insult. "Fine. Answer me this: what's the point of caring about someone you may never see again?"

Widening her eyes from the question, Isale deliberately leaned across the table. She placed her hand lightly atop Charlie's head. With a sigh, she formed a fist and punched him in the skull. "You're an ass. What if she doesn't go home? What then? We don't know what the age may have in store so enjoy it while it lasts..." She purred into his ear. "Besides, you won't even go past a friendship if you pretend like you don't care…"

"Why are you pretending like you do care?" Charlie arched a brow, his earlier agitation replaced with curiosity. "What's in this for you, Isa? Or rather, _who's_ in this for you?" Charlie watched as Isale gained a wolfish smile. He looked at her in mock disbelief. "Ah. Really Isa?"

Before Isale could respond or Charlie could elaborate, a loud crash from the washroom quickly changed the subject. Isale grinned in a somewhat deranged manner. "And that's my cue. Think about what I said, eh?" She winked before quickly dashing to the washroom and pulling the half dressed Vanessa from the room. Smiling as Vanessa blushed and rushed to put on her top, Isale said. "I wash. You stay…out." She slammed the door before Vanessa could apologize, cursing heavily behind the closed washroom door.

_Eek..!_ Vanessa scratched the door with her pinky finger and whispered. "Sorry Isale." In her rush to get dressed, she managed to knock down a majority of the items on Isale's shelves. _Great going…_ Rolling her eyes at her overt clumsiness, she walked over to the black table and looked at Charlie. "Suppies…" She folded her arms over the table and rested her head on her arms, not caring much for his answer.

Charlie trailed a finger along her arm. "Vanessa, I have a few things to give to you. Wake up…"

Vanessa shifted her arm out of his reach. She turned her head over to him and opened an eye. Noticing him leaning closer, she twitched but didn't bother to move. "What is it…?" she mumbled. Feeling three objects slide into her arm, she peered over the side of her arm. "Hmm…?" She fingered the three blackish circular disks, making note of the obscene obsidian shade of one of the puck like objects. Pocketing the ten dimates he'd placed on the table and a few oval shaped orange pills, she sat up and perked a brow. "Okay, what's up with the orange pills? And these kinda cute creepy little black disks…?"

"The orange pills are sol atomizers. They cure negative status affects a majority of the time. As for the disks…you place them into the slots on your armor and it will act as a deterrent against an element or it may boost a physical trait, like your accuracy…." Charlie almost began to make a joke but stopped upon seeing Vanessa clearly wasn't in the mood. Continuing his explanation, he said, "The disks I gave you boost your armors elemental resistance against Dark. The not so dark ones are called resist/demons and the darkest one is called a resist/devil."

"Huh…" Vanessa flipped the resist/devil upwards, intrigued as to why she'd need the resistance disks. She reached out to catch the puck but Charlie beat her to it, catching the disk inches from her palm. "Yeah okay…" Vanessa grabbed onto the disk, making no expression when Charlie didn't release his hold. "How do I put these in my armor, _Charlie_…?"

Finally letting go of the disk, Charlie hesitantly placed his hands by her ribs. Glad she didn't struggle, he pulled her up onto her feet. "Do you have your armor on?" Seeing her begin to tilt her head downward, he lifted her chin upwards. "Nessa, do you?"

_I hate those sparkling emerald eyes…_ Feeling her heart begin to act stupid and unsure why, she shook her head and gently moved his hand away from her face, anything to avoid those eyes. Vanessa glanced aside lackadaisically and muttered. "Yeah, I do…."

"Alright then." He pressed down on her shoulders, the armor becoming visible with the action. He inserted the disks into three of four circular chambers and locked them into place with a slight clockwise motion. Pressing lightly on her shoulders, he turned the armor invisible and became solemn. "Vanessa, I hope you understand you can't act this way once we're on Ragol or you'll become a liability. I can't always be there to cover you and…" He exhaled. "If this is about yesterday-"

"It's not," interrupted Vanessa. She shook him off and shrugged her way over to her boots. Lacing up the annoying accessories, she mentally acknowledged his suspicion and resisted a scowl. In truth, his behavior the day before brought about a lack of enthusiasm that currently overwhelmed her. If he didn't care, why should she? _Because you have to get home…dumbass. _She mentally slapped herself for asking the silly question and wondered what happened to her logic.

Charlie crouched down by her and cocked his head. "If this isn't about yesterday, then what is it?"

Looking at him blankly, Vanessa searched her mind for an excuse. "It's just…" She stretched and threw herself onto the floor. Yawning, she meowed out faintly. "…hungry." She sprawled out on the floor then bicycle kicked her way into a sitting position.

Unable to hide a smile from Vanessa's strange sound effects and motions, he put his hand over his mouth. "Seriously…?" He stared down to Vanessa and sighed. "Well I guess after Isa's done washing and gets dressed, we'll eat a big meal before entering the caves. Alright?"

Glad she'd managed to dodge that bullet, Vanessa got up onto her feet. "Yep." She swung her hands behind her head and skipped into Isale's living room.

Charlie watched her go, the smile on his face slowly disappearing. He mouthed "liar" and sat back at the table with a resigned expression. "Huh…"

"Okay, you've got your sword, you've got your gun, I've got-"

"Survivalism?" interrupted Vanessa, an eyebrow raised as she weighed the hilt of the sword in her hand. Realizing a moment too late Isale wouldn't get the reference, she smiled nervously as the force walked up to her.

"My PSYCHO wand…" Isale finished dangerously as she tapped Vanessa's head with the tip of the weapon. "Never forget…the psycho wand." Exhaling heavily, she returned Vanessa's smile and began clapping in her excitement. "Now to the caves!" Before Charlie or Vanessa could comment, she burst into a run and leaped into the teleporter. "Meet you there!" With one final wink at Vanessa, she disappeared into the ether.

Aware Isale had intentionally left her alone with Charlie, she rolled her eyes from Isale's antics and forced away the impulsive awkward schoolgirl behavior. _Get over it…strangle her later._

"You ready?"

"Yeah…" Vanessa sighed. Even though she told herself to get over her emotions, it was easier said than done. Moving her hand to her emblem, determined to escape from Charlie, she twitched as his hand gently gripped her wrist. She looked up to him inquisitively.

"You have to double-click on it in order for the transporter to send you to the Caves entrance. The preset coordinates unlock once you explore enough of the forest area. It's the HUNTERS administrations way of ensuring inexperienced HUNTERS don't automatically move onto the Caves…" Explained Charlie.

"I'm sure fighting a _dragon_ should qualify us entry anywhere in Ragol. Can't we just move beyond the Caves…?" asked Vanessa, hazel eyes focused on her emblem.

"This we'll find out," Seeing Vanessa quirk a brow in confusion, Charlie continued. "Nobody's ever moved beyond the caves; never had a need to. While rumors exist that there _could_ be something else beyond that, it's really all speculation for the foolish seeking recognition and glory…" he finished, voice far off.

Vanessa finally raised her gaze from the emblem, a feral glint in her eyes. "So what would that make us?"

"We're the fools…the Jokers if you will!" Smiled Charlie, hands behind his head in what appeared to be childishly carefree glee. Closing his eyes, he made a face from a light brush against his chest. "Should be--" He stopped talking, the second brush against his chest registering as the ground beneath him ceased to be. "Vanessa!" Charlie spiraled towards the Caves, Vanessa's name hanging in the air where the surprised ghost of his image stood.

Vanessa smiled, her index finger in the space where Charlie's emblem had been. "And that's what you get." Pleased with herself, she double clicked on her emblem, vanishing within the neon blue rings…


End file.
